


Welcome to New York

by marichatting



Series: The New York Duology [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: (But Mostly Angst), Aged Up, Domestic Violence, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Sad Ending, also it's a love triangle i guess, but it's not like "omg i don't know who to choose what ever shall i do", i've been working on this for six months, idk how to explain it without spoiling so just read it and find out ;), it's not like that type of love triangle, mentions of underaged sex, there are no other miraculous holders in this btw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-07-14
Packaged: 2019-05-13 23:45:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 22,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14758569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marichatting/pseuds/marichatting
Summary: Life had never been better for Marinette.She was thirty years old and one of the best designers at a big fashion label in New York City. She was living her dream, and she couldn't be happier.She loved her job, she loved her city, and she loved her fiancé, Liam.Her life was amazing, and nothing could screw it up.Nothing except for Adrien Agreste.





	1. Adrien Agreste is Blind

**Author's Note:**

> I pre-wrote this. It took me six months, but it's finally finished!! At the moment (before editing most of it), it's nearly 21k words. I'll upload every Saturday and Wednesday, and it'll finish around mid-July. The plan is for this to be a trilogy, but I can't make any promises. Sorry about that.

Life had never been better for Marinette.

She was thirty years old and one of the best designers at a big fashion label in New York City. She was living her dream, and she couldn't be happier.

Well, that last part wasn't exactly true. She did miss being Ladybug, and she missed seeing her family in person, but it was okay. She could talk to her family on the internet and the phone, and even if she still lived in Paris, the city no longer had any use for Ladybug and Chat Noir now that Gabriel Agreste was in prison and Hawkmoth was no longer a threat.

She also missed Chat Noir a lot, but there was nothing she could do about that. She still had her miraculous, but she hadn't transformed in years, as there was no need after she left Paris. She hadn't spoken to Chat since the day she told him she was leaving. He was heartbroken, and the mere look on his face had almost convinced her to stay.

Almost.

She thought about him every day, and she couldn't help but wonder how you can miss someone so much when you don't even know their real name.

Marinette also kept an eye out for him in the Parisian news and on the internet, but he hadn't made a real, confirmed appearance since a couple of months after she left. The only mentions she had seen of Chat Noir since then were pictures of blurry silhouettes along the Parisian skyline and people discussing theories as to his whereabouts. She had seen the same type of "reports" about herself. It was as if she and Chat Noir were cryptids.

But other than that, her life was great. She loved her job, she loved her city, and she loved her fiancé, Liam.

Her life was amazing, and nothing could screw it up.

Nothing except for Adrien Agreste.

***

Marinette was sitting in her office mulling over some designs when she heard someone knock on her door.

"Come in," she called, looking up from her sketchbook.

When the door opened, she saw her boss in the doorway.

"Miss Givens," Marinette said, standing from her chair. "How may I help you?"

"I know it's last-minute, but I need you to come to an important meeting with me," Givens responded.

"Okay," Marinette nodded. "When is it?"

Givens gave her an apologetic look. "Right now."

"Now?"

"Yes, now. Let's go."

Marinette quickly closed her sketchbook and exited the room with her boss.

"So, what is this meeting about?" Marinette asked the elder woman as the two of them walked briskly down the hallway.

"It's with one of our biggest competitors," Givens responded. "There's only one spot left in the annual Tournoi de Papillon show, and there's another brand trying to nab it. We're meeting with two representatives from that brand to try to work something out."

Marinette shook her head. "I still don't understand why anyone would name a fashion show 'Butterfly Tournament.' It makes no sense."

Givens shrugged. "French just sounds inherently fancy to Americans. The language attracts socialites the way bikini models attract my seventeen-year-old son. And in this world of fashion and capitalism, it's all about luring in the people who have the ability to buy your ridiculously overpriced pieces of 'fashion' that they'll never use so that you can get more exposure for the clothes that are actually practical."

Marinette laughed.

"And anyway," Givens continued. "It's not just a fashion show. This is one of the biggest fashion competitions in the world. That's why it's so important that we get this spot. Here we are."

Givens stopped in her tracks and opened a door to her right. Marinette followed her inside and found herself in a small room with a rectangular table, a potted plant, and two people seated next to each other on one side of the table.

The two people stood to greet them as they entered, and Marinette's stomach lurched.

She was staring directly into the eyes of Adrien Agreste.

She was too shocked to speak. She never expected to run into her childhood crush after leaving Paris, especially on a completely different continent from the one on which they grew up.

His eyes brightened as he seemed to recognize her, and he opened his mouth to speak, but Givens spoke before he got the chance.

"Welcome to the Supernova Fashion headquarters. I'm Katherine Givens, and this is one of my top designers, Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

Marinette smiled at the woman sitting next to Adrien, taking her eyes off the blond man for only a moment.

"Nice to meet you, and thank you for having us," the woman said. "My name is Brenna Taylor. This is the CEO of Agreste Fashion, Adrien Agreste."

The fact that Agreste Fashion had mostly relocated to New York several months ago had completely slipped her mind. She should have asked what other brand they were competing against for the spot.

"Mr. Agreste," Givens said in surprise. "I didn't realize it was actually you. It's unusual for someone of your importance in the company to attend a meeting like this, isn't it?"

"Well, this is an important event we are trying to participate in," Adrien responded. Marinette suddenly realized she had never heard him speak English before. It had been a long time since she had heard a French accent other than her own.

"Right," Givens said, nodding. "Let's talk about that. I was thinking maybe we could work out some sort of deal in which we both get-"

"Absolutely not," Adrien interrupted, to the surprise of everyone else in the room, including his colleague. "I will not make a deal with a company that employs such riff raff." He gestured at Marinette. "If this is your standard for employees, I can't even imagine your standard for clothing."

Givens looked appalled, and Ms. Taylor looked mortified. Marinette rolled her eyes as a small smirk began to grow on her face.

"Mr. Agreste," Givens said in shock. "I assure you, Ms. Dupain-Cheng is very highly qualified for this position. And not only that, but the talent she possesses-"

"Mademoiselle Givens," Marinette interrupted. "Thank you so much for defending me, but Adrien is only joking around."

Givens's eyes darted skeptically between the two of them until Adrien could no longer contain his laughter.

"I am sorry, mademoiselle," he said to Givens after a moment. His colleague rolled her eyes in exasperation at his antics. "Marinette and I were friends in school. I was just giving her a hard time."

"Oh," Givens said, then turned her head to look at Marinette. "Ms. Dupain-Cheng, you never told me you were friends with Adrien Agreste."

"Well, we haven't spoken much since I left Paris."

"The last time I remember speaking to you was at Alya and Nino's wedding," Adrien added. "And that was, what, four years ago?"

Marinette thought back to that night for a moment. "Yes, I think that's right."

Adrien laughed. "I'll never forget the way you danced that night."

"Hey, I'll have you know I'm actually a much better dancer than one would think after that night," Marinette informed him. "I just... had a bit too much to drink."

Adrien laughed again. "A bit? That's not exactly how I remember it."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Okay, so I was completely wasted. But really, can you blame me? I had gone to my best friend's wedding without a date, and by that point I had pretty much lost all hope of realizing my dream of being a designer. I had no idea that only four years later I would be one of the head designers at Supernova and engaged to be married."

Adrien quirked an eyebrow. "Engaged?"

Marinette nodded. "Yes- his name is Liam."

"Wow," Adrien said. "I had no idea. Congratulations! I can't believe Alya and Nino didn't tell me."

"Well, it's only been a month since he proposed," Marinette told him. It was funny- they hadn't seen each other in years, and yet they were talking like they were best friends. Now that her childhood crush on him had dissipated, Marinette had no trouble at all speaking to him. Evidently, that's just what happens when you move on.

"That's amazing, Marinette," Adrien beamed. "We should get together sometime soon. I'd love to meet the lucky man who won your heart."

Marinette laughed. "Please, don't act as if you never won it, too."

Adrien's smile faltered for a moment. "What?"

Marinette rolled her eyes with a grin. "Adrien, you don't have to pretend you didn't know about my crush on you. I wasn't exactly subtle about it."

Adrien stared at her. "You had a crush on me?"

Marinette stared back. "You... really didn't know?"

"No!"

Marinette shook her head slowly. "Adrien... I knew you were naïve, but I didn't think you were blind."

Adrien laughed. "Hey, you were good at hiding it!"

"That is the exact opposite of the truth. You can ask literally anyone from our class."

"Everyone knew?"

"Yes. Every single person in our class knew."

"That- that is not true."

"Yes, it is! Call Nino right now, I dare you."

Adrien rolled his eyes. "That's too easy. He was your best friend's boyfriend!"

"Okay, so call Sabrina. Or Juleka. Or Rose. Or Ivan. Or-"

"I get it, Mari," Adrien laughed. "I can't believe I never knew."

"I can't believe you never knew either," Marinette said. "I mean, I turned into a flustered, stuttering mess every time you were in the vicinity."

"I- I just thought you were shy!" Adrien exclaimed. "I mean, there was a time when I thought you disliked me, but Nino reassured me that you were just shy."

"Mr. Agreste?" Givens interrupted. "I am terribly sorry to interrupt, and it's wonderful that you two are getting a chance to catch up, but do you think we could please discuss the matter at hand? I have another meeting in a little while."

"Oh, absolutely," Adrien responded. "I'm sorry. What were you saying before I interrupted, Mademoiselle Givens?"

"Well, we were hoping to come to some sort of compromise," Givens began. "Obviously we can't both get everything we want in this situation, but perhaps we can meet in the middle and both get half of what we want. So, we were thinking that, since each brand has six models walk in the show, we could each dress three models. We could consult each other on design choices and any other big decisions, and we could split the costs and any money we may earn as a result of this."

"That sounds perfect," Adrien said. "We'll need to get a contract drawn up, so we can enter into a formal partnership; would you like for your lawyer or my lawyer to do it?"

"Either is fine," Givens responded. "Thank you so much for agreeing to this."

"Absolutely. So, my lawyer and I can come by tomorrow afternoon to work out a few details and discuss the contract with you, if that's okay."

"That's perfect," Givens said, opening her planner. "How's 2:35?"

Ms. Taylor checked her own planner.

"2:35 is perfect."

"Excellent. I'll see you then."


	2. Marinette Did Not Have Sex with Chat Noir

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Marinette's fiancé must fight Chat Noir.

"In New York, of all places? I mean, it’s not even the same continent as the one where the two of you grew up.”

“I know!”

Marinette was sitting on the living room couch with Liam, telling him about her day. They were both lounging in their pajamas, and her legs were draped over his lap.

“It was kind of crazy,” Marinette continued. “I mean, I never really thought of us as close friends, but he was in our inner circle- you know, me, Alya, Nino, and Adrien.”

“Right.”

“But anyway, we just sort of lost touch after high school, especially after I left Paris, so I really haven’t even thought about him much in a long time. I mean, I haven’t even spoken to the guy in four years, and all of a sudden I have a meeting with him and we’re entering into a partnership?”

“That’s insane- but what’s even more insane is that you never told me you were friends with Adrien Agreste.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “I just told you I haven’t spoken to him in four years. We’re really not friends anymore, and we weren’t even very close when we were friends. He just never came up.”

“Okay, but you’re a designer, Mari. You’ve been into designing clothes since you were a kid, and someone in your ‘inner circle’ was the son of one of the world’s top designers,” he said, making air quotes with his fingers around the words “inner circle.”

“I’m aware.”

“That’s a big deal! Did you ever get to do any fashion-y stuff with him?”

“No, not really,” Marinette said. “Except for when I won a design contest and Adrien wore my hat in a photoshoot. But other than that, no.”

“Really? I would think being friends with Gabriel Agreste’s son- you know, pre-arrest- would have opened some doors for you.”

Marinette shrugged. “I guess it could have, but I was always too shy to talk to Adrien about a lot of stuff.”

“Really? Why?”

Marinette laughed. “Because fourteen-year-old me had an enormous crush on him. It was so bad that I had a whole section of wall in my bedroom dedicated to pictures of him.”

Liam laughed. “Are you serious? You actually had a shrine?"

“Yes! And even if I hadn’t had a crush on him, there’s no way I ever would have been able to talk to Monsieur Agreste without making a fool of myself. He was one of my favorite designers. I pretty much idolized the guy for years.”

“Oh. So, when he got arrested…”

“Yeah, that was a big mess,” Marinette nodded, remembering that day. “His name kind of left a bad taste in my mouth after that day. He had caused so much pain across Paris… but I didn’t even really know him. It was just awful for Adrien.”

“Yeah, I would imagine.”

“Especially with how much Adrien looked up to Ladybug and Chat Noir,” Marinette continued. “To have your heroes get your dad arrested for terrorizing Paris would just be an awful thing for anyone to go through.”

“Wow. Did he hate Ladybug and Cat Nuwar after that?”

Marinette laughed. “First of all, it’s pronounced Chat Noir. And no, he still looked up to them. He recognized that his dad was doing a bad thing, and he was really upset about it for a long time, but as far as I know, he never resented Ladybug or Chat Noir for his defeat.”

“Did you ever meet Ladybug and Chat Noir?”

“…yes.”

“Really?”

“Yes- I, um, helped them once, too. One of my classmates was akumatized, and I helped them get him back to normal.”

“That’s amazing,” Liam said excitedly. “What were they like?”

Marinette thought carefully about her answer so as to ensure she wouldn’t give away her secret. “Ladybug was cool, but I really knew Chat Noir better.” Her cheeks turned slightly pink. “I’ve never actually told anyone this- not even Alya- but he used to stop by my bedroom sometimes when I was sixteen.”

Liam’s eyes grew wide. “What? You had sex with Chat Noir?”

Marinette’s eyes grew even wider. “No! No, he stopped by as a friend. We weren’t in a relationship or anything. Nothing ever happened.” Her cheeks turned darker. “Except for one kiss.”

Liam’s jaw dropped. “Marinette! You kissed Chat Noir and never told me?!”

“To be fair, I never told anyone.”

“I can’t believe this!” Liam looked around the apartment. “Where’s my laptop? I’m gonna go book a flight to Paris so I can fight Chat Noir.”

Liam stood from the couch, and Marinette laughed and pulled her fiancé back down.

“We already have tickets to go for Christmas. We can’t afford two round trips to Paris. Besides, it only happened once. He used to come over on Friday nights, and we would alternate between movie nights and game nights each week. Once, during game night, we were playing Monopoly, and you know how intense that can get.” Liam nodded knowingly. “So, we had a small disagreement because- and he would always deny this- he cheated. And you can’t just cheat at Monopoly. So, we started bickering, and I, um, sort of tackled him trying to take back the money. So, we kind of wrestled a little bit, and by that time it was probably about 1 A.M., and we just… got caught up in the moment.”

“And kissed.”

“Yes.”

“Because Chat Noir, a superhero who was notorious for his flirtatiousness, came to your bedroom clad in a skin-tight leather suit in the middle of the night once a week. And you wrestled. And kissed.”

“It was fourteen years ago, Liam.”

“How do you even know he wasn’t, like, ten years older than you?”

“We were both sixteen,” Marinette said.

“Wait, sixteen? He was that young?”

“I mean, he and Ladybug started fighting akumas when they were both around thirteen.”

“Are you serious?” Marinette nodded. “Huh. I always just assumed they were older than that.”

“I think a lot of people do.”

“But wouldn’t it take a toll on someone to have the entire city of Paris depending on them when they’re just kids?”

Marinette nodded slowly. “Yeah, it did take a toll. We didn’t really talk about it much, but whenever he needed to talk, I listened. There were a couple of times when he told me about having nightmares and stuff. He also kind of got anxious whenever people around him got upset- because, you know, negative emotions made people vulnerable to akumas. I have to admit, I got that way sometimes too, just because almost my entire class was akumatized at some point.”

Liam slowly shook his head. “That is absolutely unreal. I remember seeing all this stuff on the news when I was a teenager, but I guess I never really thought about its effect.”

“I mean, it’s not like we were all fighting in a war or something,” Marinette said, suddenly uncomfortable. “And every time someone was akumatized, we knew Ladybug and Chat Noir would come through and fix it all.”

“Still,” Liam said. “People all around the city were essentially getting possessed every other week. That would have scared anyone.”

Marinette nodded, but didn’t respond.


	3. Marinette Roasts Adrien

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Adrien meets his match.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a little bit of French in this chapter and in future chapters. If you don't speak French, don't panic- there will be an English translation immediately after each line that contains French. If you DO speak French and happen to notice any errors in mine, please let me know! I've taken three and a half years of French classes, but I'm still not very good at it, unfortunately. Also, if having a translation after each line is too distracting, please let me know. Maybe I can just put it all together, if that would work better.

"Est-ce que tu es stupide?!"

["Are you stupid?!"]

"Non! Tu est la personne stupide!"

["No! You're the stupid one!"]

"C'est mauvais, c'est très, très mauvais."

["This is bad, this is very, very bad."]

"Oui- tes habits sont mauvais!"

[Yes- your clothes are bad!"]

"Marinette," Givens desperately interrupted the argument. "What is going on?"

Marinette huffed. "Adrien thinks our outfit is bad, when the one he chose is just horrendous."

They looked at the two models in question. Both were wearing ridiculously extravagant and entirely impractical "clothes" that made Marinette want to throw up, but at least her outfit of choice had an aesthetically pleasing color scheme.

"Orange and green should never be placed within thirty feet of each other," she said, crossing her arms. "Ever."

"That's a matter of opinion!" Adrien argued.

"Besides," Marinette continued. "That hat and that dress aren't even from the same line. This show is meant to showcase the essence of the entire year, yes, but that doesn't mean that a spring hat should go with a fall dress!"

"I know what I'm doing, Marinette!" Adrien insisted. "I think you're forgetting that I've been in this business since I was a literal infant."

"And I think you're forgetting that you never paid attention to your dad's work when you could help it. I've been designing since I learned to hold a pencil, Adrien, and you weren't even interested in this business until what? Five years ago?"

Adrien was silent for a long moment. "It was six years ago."

"And for me, it was twenty-six years ago."

Adrien shook his head. "How do you even know which lines those are from? These are Agreste clothes."

Marinette crossed her arms defensively. "One: I pay attention to the world around me. Fashion is a competitive business, so I try to learn about what other companies are doing as much as I can, so I can stay on top of it. Two: It's obvious."

"How? How is it obvious that that hat is from the spring line? It doesn't even have flowers or anything on it."

"Well, Adrien," Marinette responded, approaching the model in question in order to point out the evidence. "I know these show clothes aren't exactly known for their practicality, but they're designed to encompass the overall essence of the line. Look at the colors, the shape, the pattern- can you honestly tell me that this is not a blatantly spring hat?"

Adrien hesitated, staring silently at the hat, then sighed. "No... it's a spring hat."

Marinette nodded curtly. "That's what I thought."

***

The pair's arguing and bickering continued consistently over the next few weeks. They were both accustomed to being the best at their respective companies, and they each wanted to continue to be the best.

They bickered over every little detail, relenting only during their breaks.

"I can't believe I was friends with him," Marinette told Liam one day as she lounged on the couch. "I mean, we don't agree on anything now. He's so nitpicky."

"You're nitpicky," Liam pointed out from the kitchen.

"But I'm nitpicky in a good way. He's nitpicky in an annoying way."

"I don't know," Liam said. "It seems to me like the two of you are just very passionate about your line of work, and with that passion comes strong opinions, and unfortunately, his opinions are very different from yours. I think you guys should spend some time hanging out together outside of work, and then maybe you'll get along better."

Marinette groaned and collapsed dramatically against the couch cushions. "You're such a fixer. You always give me solutions to my problems."

Liam laughed. "Is that a bad thing?"

Marinette sat up and glared at him over the back of the couch. "Liam, I love you, but sometimes I just need to rant, okay?"

Liam approached and kissed the top of her head as she scowled. "Whatever you say."

Marinette groaned in exasperation. "I'm going to talk to Alya. Maybe she won't be so inconsiderate as to solve my problem for me."

"Isn't it almost midnight in Paris?"

"She has a one-year-old daughter. Trust me, she's not asleep yet."

***

Surely enough, Marinette and Alya were video-chatting within five minutes.

"Adrien me rend fou!" Marinette exclaimed.

["Adrien is driving me crazy!" Marinette exclaimed.]

"Faites attention, Mari," Alya giggled in response, speaking loudly to be heard over the screaming toddler somewhere off-screen. "Tu as un fiancé."

["Be careful, Mari," Alya giggled in response, speaking loudly to be heard over the screaming toddler somewhere off-screen. "You have a fiancé."] 

"Ce n'est pas comme ça," Marinette said, rolling her eyes. "Il est tellement énervant! Est-ce qu'il était tellement énervant quant nous étions enfants?"

["It's not like that," Marinette said, rolling her eyes. "He is so annoying! Was he this annoying when we were kids?"] 

"Tu certainemant ne pensait pas qu'il était énervant."

["You certainly didn't think he was annoying."] 

"Je sais, mais est-ce que tu pensait qu'il était énervant?"

["I know, but did you think he was annoying?"] 

"Non. Personne ne pensait qu'il était énervant."

["No. No one thought he was annoying."] 

Suddenly, a shrieking one-year-old wearing only a diaper and a single pink sock ran through the background. Nino followed shortly after, pleading with the little girl as he held her pajamas in his grip.

"Désolé, Marinette," Alya said with an amused smile. "Je devrais aider Nino avec Lucie."

["Sorry, Marinette," Alya said with an amused smile. "I should help Nino with Lucie."] 

"D'accord," Marinette smiled and waved at her. "Bonne chance. Je te verra en deux mois pour Noël."

["Okay," Marinette smiled and waved at her. "Good luck. I'll see you in two months for Christmas."] 

"D'accord! Au revoir."

["Okay! Bye."] 

"Au revoir."

["Bye."]

***

Marinette continued to ignore Liam's solutions and advice, and her arguments with Adrien somehow became even more frequent. As her frustration with the blond man grew, she began ranting about him more and more often.

"I mean, he's just so irritating," she ranted one night as Liam was getting ready for bed. Marinette was sitting on the bed in her pajamas, discreetly putting a few cookies in her purse for Tikki while Liam was brushing his teeth in the bathroom. "He disagrees with everything I say. And he does this thing where when he's about to tell me I'm wrong, he furrows his brow and licks his lips, and it annoys the crap out of me."

"Marinette, I think we need to talk," Liam said, exiting the bathroom.

"What is it?" Marinette asked, suddenly concerned.

Liam sat down on the bed and looked at her. "You're getting more and more obsessed with Adrien by the day, and I have to be honest here- I'm getting kind of worried."

Marinette let out a breathy laugh and rolled her eyes. "Obsessed? I'm not obsessed."

"Okay, but Mari," Liam said. "You talk about him all the time. He's pretty much the only thing we talk about these days. And because I love you and believe honesty is key to a successful relationship, I have to tell you that I'm afraid some of your feelings from when you were kids are coming back to you now."

Marinette just stared at him. "You think I have a crush on Adrien? Do you not trust me?"

"I do trust you," Liam insisted, taking her small hands in his large ones. "I don't think you would ever act on any feelings you may develop, but I think if you have developed certain feelings for him, we should talk about-"

"Liam," Marinette interrupted. "I do not have any romantic feelings toward Adrien. That is completely ridiculous. Sure, I liked him when we were kids, but that was more than a decade ago. Those feelings were gone a long time ago."

"I know," Liam said. "I'm not saying you've been pining after him all these years- I'm just saying that you had strong feelings for him for a long time, and now that he's suddenly back in your life, some of those feelings might be trying to return to you. Maybe you're just so used to being a lovesick teenager when you're around him- because that's just how it always was with you two- that you just don't know how to act in his presence now."

"You think I'm acting like a lovesick teenager?"

Liam hesitated, reconsidering his choice of words. "Well- I mean-" he sighs. "Kind of. I guess."

"That's ridiculous," Marinette insisted. "I'm sorry if I've made it seem like I have feelings for him, but I really don't. I love you."

Liam smiles, seemingly reassured. "I love you, too."

"And besides," Marinette said. "You obviously have no idea how I acted when I was a lovesick teenager, because this most certainly is not it."

Liam laughs, and they exchange a quick kiss before turning off the lights and settling into bed.

Il vraiment pense que j'ai un béugin pour Adrien, Marinette thought. C'est ridicule.

[He really thinks I have a crush on Adrien, Marinette thought. That's ridiculous.]


	4. The Bug and the Cat Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our favorite pair gets an unexpected reunion.

A week later, Marinette was in the break room eating lunch when, suddenly, the entire building shook with the force of a distant explosion.

Panic immediately broke out amongst her coworkers, and everyone in the room stood and rushed to the windows. Marinette's heart pounded violently as she spotted the smoke several buildings down the road and heard the terrified screams.

"We have to go help," someone said, and everyone began to exit the room. Marinette watched as the majority of her coworkers rushed out of the exit and onto the street.

Marinette knew she needed to help, but she didn't know how she would be able to make much of a difference.

But she did know someone else who could help more.

Marinette knew what she had to do.

She rushed into her private office so she could be sure no one was watching as she let the words she hadn't uttered in years roll off of her tongue.

"Tikki, transformé moi!"

***

She soared through the air, suddenly realizing just how much she had missed being Ladybug. She had been afraid of being rusty and clumsy after so long, but she swung from building to building as if she still did it on a daily basis. It was like riding a bike.

Finally, she reached the scene of the explosion: a five-story office building just down the street from Supernova.

She stopped on a rooftop across the street to assess the scene. Sirens were blaring, and people all over the street were screaming and crying as smoke poured out from the building, which was now missing most of the side that faced the street.

As she examined the scene before her, she spotted a small group of people huddled together on the fourth floor, unable to escape. Some of them were waving down at the crowd below in a desperate attempt to attract attention so that they may be rescued, but the elevators and stairwells had been damaged in the explosion, so they were stranded.

Ladybug stood, aimed her yo-yo, and leapt over the road and into what remained of the building, landing about three feet away from the group.

"Ladybug?" One of them said in shock. "Paris's Ladybug?"

"Yes, it's me," Ladybug responded. "Come with me; I'll help you down."

"Take her first," one of them said, pointing to a pale young woman on the floor who had blood pouring out of a gash in her side. "She's the worst out of all of us."

Ladybug scooped up the young woman in her arms and held her bridal-style, then anchored her yo-yo and slowly lowered herself down to the street.

Just as she reached the pavement, two new ambulances arrived. Ladybug carried the woman to one of them and set her on a gurney, then hoisted herself back up into the building.

She continued to help as many people escape the building as she could. She carried the more severely-injured people by themselves, and the ones with more minor injuries in pairs.

She was on the ground after rescuing a pair of men when she suddenly heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Milady?"

She froze in her tracks, and her heart began to pound as she slowly turned around.

It was him. Chat Noir- her Chat Noir- was standing mere feet away from her.

She suddenly felt a rush of giddiness, which was wildly inappropriate what with the current circumstances, but she couldn't help herself.

It was him.

"Chat," she breathed, her face breaking into a grin. She broke into a run and rushed directly into his arms. He hugged her tightly and giggled a little bit.

"C'est toi," he whispered.

["It's you," he whispered.]

Suddenly remembering what was happening, Ladybug broke the hug.

"Nous avons besoin aider ces gens," she said urgently.

[We need to help these people," she said urgently.]

"D'accord," he nodded.

["Okay," he nodded.]

They split up and searched each floor individually, searching for both survivors and the dead. Finally, on the fifth floor, they had one woman left to help. She was on the floor, her limbs twisted in awkward positions and blood pouring out of various wounds.

"Est-ce qu'elle est morte?" Ladybug asked Chat.

["Is she dead?" Ladybug asked Chat.]

He checked her for a pulse. "Non, elle est vivante."

[He checked her for a pulse. "No, she's alive."]

He picked up the woman and started toward what used to be the wall.

As he held her, the woman stirred. Upon seeing that a man dressed as a cat was carrying her out of her smoldering workplace, she was (understandably) confused and upset.

To Ladybug's surprise, Chat began speaking perfect English to her.

"Mademoiselle," he said soothingly. "My name is Chat Noir. Your work building has been bombed, and you're hurt, but you'll be safe as soon as I get you down to the ambulance. Just stay calm. You'll be okay."

Chat extended his pole as he reached the edge and slowly lowered himself and the woman down to the street. Ladybug watched him go, then aimed her yo-yo to follow suit.

Before she could do so, however, another deafening explosion rang out, this one much, much closer than before.

Ladybug cried out as she felt the force of the second explosion. Debris flew at her from every angle, and she felt herself begin to plummet to the ground as she was knocked off her feet.

In her disoriented state, she screamed and thrashed wildly in the air as she fell, but didn't think to use her yo-yo.

As she fell past the second floor, she suddenly felt herself change directions as a strong pair of arms caught her and whisked her away from the building.

"Ladybug," Chat said frantically as he lowered her onto the ground. "Are you okay? Er- I mean-"

He quickly realized he had spoken in English out of habit and started to correct himself so she would understand, but she spoke before he could.

"I'm fine," she said, to his visible surprise. "Thank you, Chat."

"You speak English?"

"Well, yes; I live in America now."

Chat nodded. "I'm just staying here for a while. I can't believe you're here."

Ladybug began to sit up, then suddenly became aware of a shooting pain in her side. She groaned and collapsed back onto the pavement.

Chat's eyes grew wide as he noticed the spot where her bloodstained suit was slowly turning a darker shade of red.

"Ladybug, you are not fine," he said in horror. "Here, I'll help you to the ambulance-"

"No," Ladybug insisted. "If I go to the hospital, they'll find out who I am."

Chat nodded. "And you can't just say 'lucky charm' and fix everything because-"

"There's no akuma damage," Ladybug finished for him.

"Well, I can carry you home," Chat offered. "Just tell me where to go, and I'll-"

"No," Ladybug interrupted. "Thank you, but we can't know each other's identities."

Chat rolled his eyes. "Ladybug, it's been seventeen years."

"What's your point?"

"My point is that you need help. We've known each other for seventeen years now, so I think it would be okay for you to just let me take you home instead of risking your life to protect your identity."

"Well I don't, Chat," Ladybug said, frustrated. She screwed her eyes shut tightly and shook her head a tiny bit. "Sorry, I just-"

"I know," Chat said gently. "It's okay- you're just not comfortable with me knowing who you are. Still. It's okay. But how will you get home?"

Ladybug took a deep breath, thinking. "Just- just help me get up to that roof, please," she said, pointing to the roof of the building next to them. "I'll take it from there."

Without further ado, Chat helped a wincing Ladybug to her feet and grabbed her by the waist, lifting them both onto the roof with his staff.

"Thank you, Chat," Ladybug said once they were on the roof. "We should meet again soon when there's not a disaster like this- how's tomorrow night at 9 o'clock, right here?"

An unreadable expression Ladybug didn't recognize passed over Chat's face, but he nodded. "Sounds good, LB. Are you sure you'll be okay? You don't need any help at all?"

"Thank you, but I'll be fine on my own," Ladybug said, hoping beyond hope she was right as she clutched her stinging wound. "I'll see you tomorrow night."

After exchanging their good-byes, Ladybug swung her yo-yo and clumsily soared away.


	5. The Bleeding Superheroine on Liam's Balcony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oooooops it's a sad one

Her progress was slower than she would have liked, but she was still doing it. She had to stop to rest frequently, but she was still doing it.

Finally, she arrived on the roof of her apartment building, suddenly realizing she didn't know how to get in without revealing her identity.

There was a door to the inside from the roof, but it was locked, as were all the windows to her apartment. The only unlocked door through which she could go was the front entry- but if anyone saw the placement of her injury, even as Marinette, they could notice that she was injured in the same place as Ladybug, realize that they're both French and have dark hair, and put two and two together.

However...

By that point, it was nearly four o'clock. She knew Liam would be home by now; he always got home early.

And their apartment had a balcony.

She had planned on telling her fiancé about her alter ego eventually, but she never imagined she would be in the suit and bleeding heavily when it happened.

But it was her only option.

Ladybug moved to the side of the building on which their balcony resided and thought for a moment. The building had fifteen floors, and they lived on the eleventh floor. She knew their balcony was the fourth from the left, because they had once set a large stuffed animal in the window and gone up to the eleventh floor of the building next door to see where it was.

She found what she thought- and really, really hoped- was their balcony, anchored her yo-yo, and began to lower herself down to it.

When she finally reached it after what seemed like an eternity, she cautiously peered in through the glass door to confirm she had the right room.

The doors opened up into the living room, and she could see Liam sitting on the couch, watching the story about the explosion unfold on the news.

She pulled herself over the railing of the balcony, took a deep breath to steel herself for Liam's reaction, and hesitantly rapped on the balcony door.

She watched as Liam turned around, surprised, and his eyes widened at the sight of a bloodstained superheroine from another continent standing on his balcony.

He quickly stood from the couch and rushed to open the door.

"Ladybug, what are you-" he froze as he stared at her face. "Wait, Marinette?"

Her stomach lurched. "How- how did you know?"

"One, I don't know what other French woman would be knocking on my balcony door," Liam said. "And two, did you really think I wouldn't recognize my own fiancée?"

Ladybug shrugged. "I mean, my parents and friends never figured it out," she said slowly through the pain. "You're actually the first person who- ah!"

Ladybug winced as a sharp pain shot through her, originating in the wound in her side. She doubled over and clutched the wound, and Liam gasped.

"Mari, oh jeez, come inside!"

Ladybug stumbled inside and detransformed, then collapsed onto the tile between the living room and the open kitchen of the apartment.

"Marinette, are you okay?" a tiny voice asked frantically. "You really should have let Chat Noir take you to the hospital."

Marinette looked at her kwami, who was perched on her knee, looking weary and concerned.

"I'm okay, Tikki," she said. "You need to eat some cookies to recharge."

She turned to Liam, who was staring in shock at the kwami. "Liam, will you please get her some cookies?"

He looked at Marinette, his eyes wide. "Get her some cookies? You're thinking about cookies right now?"

"She needs them," Marinette insisted.

Liam took a deep breath. "Okay, okay, I'll get her some cookies." He went into the pantry and returned after a moment with a package of Oreos, opening them and holding them out to the kwami. "Here you go, um... enormous talking insect."

"Thank you," Tikki squeaked, then quickly began munching on cookies.

"Okay, Liam," Marinette said, drawing his attention back to herself. "Now, please go into the bedroom and open the top drawer on my side of the dresser."

"You said you didn't want me going through your stuff."

"I'll make an exception this time," Marinette said patiently. Liam was obviously having a hard time processing the current events. "Open my top drawer and dig to the very bottom in the very back. You'll find a big box. Please bring it to me."

Liam nodded and began walking to their shared bedroom. He was paler than usual, and his eyes were wide and vacant-looking. Marinette felt bad for him; he must have been in a lot of shock.

Liam quickly returned with the box and handed it to her as he sat down on the floor next to her.

"Why did you have a first-aid kit buried in your sock drawer?"

"Because it's not a normal first aid kit," she responded as she opened it up to reveal a multitude of surgical tools that aren't present in normal first-aid kits.

"What the heck, Mari?"

"I bought all this stuff shortly after I became Ladybug," she said as she dug through the kit. "Tikki- that's her name by the way, and she's not an insect, she's a kwami- told me it would be a good idea for me to be prepared in case there came a day when we had to fight something that wasn't an akuma, and Chat Noir or I got seriously injured but I couldn't use my lucky charm to fix it. I never actually thought that day would arrive, but after seventeen years, it finally has. Tikki?"

The kwami set the cookie on which she had been gnawing on top of the package, then flew over to help Marinette. She pointed out the tools she would need, then explained to her how to sterilize them and numb the skin surrounding the wound.

Marinette took off her shirt to get better access to the wound, then got to work, following Tikki's instructions.

"Wait, are you-" Liam gasped and turned away from the sight. "Marinette! Are you seriously giving yourself stitches on our kitchen floor right now?"

"Well, I can't go- ow- to the hospital, because I- ng- can't let anyone figure out who I am," she said, gritting her teeth and wincing through the pain. "So, this is- unh- this is pretty much my only option."

"I cannot be in here," Liam said. "Call for me if you need anything. I'll be in the bathroom in case I throw up."

***

When Marinette was finally done bandaging her wound and had taken more painkillers than she probably should have, she went into the bedroom and carefully lay down on the bed.

"Liam, you can come out now," she called.

"You're done?" he asked, stepping out of the bathroom.

"Yeah."

"Okay, good." He carefully sat down on his side of the bed. "Um. How does it feel?"

"Not great."

"Right, um," he took a deep breath. "Marinette, I think we need to talk about this whole Ladybug thing."

She turned to look at him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that this is a huge secret to keep from your fiancé," he said. "Did you not trust me enough to tell me?"

"I do trust you," she said earnestly. "But I've never told anyone my secret before. The only person who has ever known my identity is Master Fu, the man who gave me my miraculous." She pointed to her earrings, which she still wore every day in case of a situation like today's. "These give me my powers. Anyway, I was going to tell you eventually, I just... didn't know how."

"Wait," Liam stopped her. "No one other than me and this Fu guy knows your identity? Not even Chat Noir?"

"That's right. Like I said earlier, my parents and friends never put it together, and Chat and I never told each other our identities."

"But he stopped by your room for movie nights?"

"Yes."

"You developed two relationships with this guy as two different people? And you never told him you were the same person?"

Marinette looked away from him, suddenly feeling guilty. "No."

"See, Marinette," Liam said. "That's what I'm worried about."

"What do you mean, 'worried?'"

"I mean that if you kept this secret from me for years, and from your parents for seventeen freaking years, you must be an amazing liar and secret-keeper, and I don't feel good about that. And befriending Chat Noir as Marinette without telling him you were also Ladybug... I'm going to be totally honest here: that just seems manipulative to me."

"I did not manipulate him!" Marinette exclaimed defensively.

Liam raised his arms in defense. "Sorry. It just seems a little manipulative. And... I know you help people, but I don't think I can handle you risking your life like this."

Marinette stared at him. "Are you saying you don't want me to be Ladybug anymore? Because that's not going to happen."

"Why not? You've gone this long without being Ladybug, so why can't you just give her up?"

"Because Ladybug is a part of me," Marinette insisted. "I honestly forgot how much I missed transforming, but now that I've done it, I don't ever want to go back to being just Marinette. And anyway, giving up Ladybug means giving up Tikki, and we've been together since I was thirteen, so there is no way I'm just going to let that happen."

"You don't necessarily have to give her up," he said. "Just stop transforming and going out there as Ladybug and risking your life."

"You don't get it," Marinette said in frustration. She sat up, but she immediately regretted that decision due the pain in her side and lay back down. "I can't just stop doing it again. The kind of freedom and joy that comes with being Ladybug is indescribable. I can't get that from anything else. Besides, I told Chat I would meet him tomorrow night."

"You're meeting up with your ex-lover?" Liam said angrily.

"We were never lovers," Marinette snapped. "But we were best friends, and we haven't seen each other in a freaking decade, so you cannot stop me from going to see him."

"First Adrien Agreste, now Chat Noir?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"All these guys you were freaking in love with as a teenager are coming back into your life all of a sudden, and given how you act around Agreste, I'm afraid of what'll happen when you're with someone you were basically in a relationship with. I mean, Adrien is one thing, but you actually had a chance with Chat Noir, so who knows what you'll do when you're around him?"

"So now you don't trust me?"

"Frankly, Marinette, I don't. Not after you could lie to me and everyone else and keep this secret for so long," Liam said. "I don't even know who you are anymore."

"I'm still me," Marinette insisted. "I'm still Marinette. I'm still the same person you know and love."

"No, you're not," he argued. "You didn't risk your life like this before, and now you're saying you're not going to stop! That's not the Marinette I know."

"You keep talking about me risking my life," Marinette said. "But if I were a police officer, or a solider, or a firefighter, would you be acting this way?"

"That's different."

"You're right- I'm actually way less likely to get hurt as Ladybug."

Liam merely shook his head. "I... I can't do this, Mari."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I'm going to go find somewhere else to stay for a while."

Marinette froze, her eyes locked on Liam's. Her heart pounded, and she felt sick to her stomach. She couldn't even find any words to say for a very, very long moment.

"Don't," she finally said softly. "This- um- this was your apartment before I lived here. I... I'll go."

Liam didn't object. He just watched her, his eyes revealing no emotions. "Okay."

Marinette took a deep breath and slowly stood from the bed. "I need to get back to work, I guess. I kind of... left early."

Liam didn't respond.

"I'll just... get what I need for tonight and come get the rest while you're at work tomorrow."

"Okay."

Tears stinging her eyes, Marinette quickly packed an overnight bag and began to leave.

She turned back to look at him as she stood in the doorway out of the apartment. He was watching her with his arms crossed.

"Bye," she said softly.

He stared at her. "Goodbye, Marinette."


	6. Angst, Angst, and More Angst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OOOOP IT'S ANOTHER SAD ONE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe I forgot to upload yesterday! I'm so sorry! I had a busy day. It won't happen again (hopefully).
> 
> Also, I apologize in advance for this chapter. If you thought the last chapter was sad, then honey, you've got a big storm coming. The next chapter is better, though. I promise.

Marinette returned to work about half an hour before it would have been time to go home. She half expected to walk into a frenzied, panicked environment like the one she left behind after she was injured, but the environment with which she was met was eerily calm despite the tension in the air.

"Marinette," someone said. Marinette looked in the direction of the voice to see her friend, a secretary named Daisy, rushing toward her with outstretched arms. The taller blonde woman engulfed her in a tight hug that made Marinette wince. "I was so worried something had happened to you."

"I was- um- at the hospital for a bit," Marinette lied, breaking away from the hug. "I got hit by some debris in the second explosion."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Marinette reassured her. "I just needed a couple of stitches and some painkillers."

"You should have stayed home," Daisy insisted. "You could have called Givens- she would have understood."

"Yeah, um," Marinette could feel tears welling up in her eyes again and did her best to force them back down. "I was planning on staying home, but..."

Daisy stared at her expectantly. "But what?"

But I think Liam and I just broke up, Marinette almost said. She plastered a smile across her face. "But I just wanted to come back to work and see everyone."

Daisy smiled back at her. "Mari, you're just the sweetest."

"Do you know if they've caught the bomber yet?" Marinette asked after a moment, changing the subject. "Or if they have a suspect?"

Daisy gestured to the television around which approximately half the staff was gathered. The news was replaying footage of the aftermath, including clips of herself and Chat Noir. "They caught the guy. They already got a confession out of him and everything."

Marinette nodded. "Good. Motive?"

"Wanted revenge on an ex-girlfriend."

"Ah."

The news broadcast cut to an interview with one of the bombing victims lying in a hospital bed. It was one of the people Ladybug and Chat Noir had rescued.

"If it weren't for them, it would have been ages before anyone would have been able to get to me," the woman said. "They saved my life. Ladybug and Chat Noir, if you're watching this, thank you so much. I can never repay you."

"It really is incredible that they were there," Daisy commented. "I mean, they haven't been seen in years, and they suddenly show up on a different continent in time to save so many lives? Crazy."

"Yeah, it is crazy."

"And it must be weird for you to see Ladybug and Chat Noir in the spotlight again after all these years."

Marinette's stomach lurched. "What? Why would that be weird for me?"

Daisy turned and smiled at her. "Because you lived in Paris back when they were around all the time. I'm sure they were a huge deal in Paris, right?" Marinette nodded. "So, it's got to be weird seeing them all over the news again after so long."

Marinette nodded stiffly. "Yeah. It is weird."

***

Marinette slept in her office that night.

At one point, she was woken up by the late-night cleaning crew entering her office, and awkwardly explained to them that her apartment had flooded, and she didn't have another place to stay yet.

The next morning, she got up before anyone arrived at the office to get ready for the day. She received a few phone calls from Parisian friends and family who saw that the explosion was just down the street from her office and wanted to check in with her, but there were no other disturbances.

All day, she avoided speaking to other people as much as possible out of fear that someone would mention Liam. She only left her office to go to the bathroom, even eating lunch at her desk while she looked online for hotel rooms nearby.

Marinette grew more and more worried with every hotel room she viewed. New York was expensive, but before now, she had always had roommates to split the rent. She could afford a few nights, but any more than that would be too significant, and she had no idea how long this break would last- if it ever even ended.

She didn't have anyone with whom she could stay. All her close friends still lived in France, and she didn't want to inconvenience any of her New York friends by invading their houses. They weren't close enough that she could ask for big favors like that.

So, rather than risking bankruptcy, she decided to continue to sleep in her office indefinitely.

It wasn't the soundest or most convenient plan, but it was all she had.

***

With everything that was going on with Liam and her current homelessness, Marinette didn't feel she had much to bring her joy anymore.

However, the one thing she knew she could look forward to was seeing Chat Noir again.

So, at 7:45 that night, she transformed in her office and launched herself out the window, soaring over the streets of New York. 

She arrived at their agreed-upon location over an hour early, so she hadn't expected him to be there. But as she approached, her heart soared to see a familiar silhouette on the rooftop.

"You're already here," she said as her feet touched down on the roof.

Chat turned and smiled at her. "Yeah. I got restless from waiting- and I guess you did, too."

Ladybug giggled and nodded. "I just couldn't wait to see you. It's been so long. I missed you."

Chat's eyes grew sad. "I missed you, too, Ladybug."

"What's wrong?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing."

Ladybug stepped toward him and smiled. "How have you been?"

Chat shrugged. "I've been okay. You?"

Ladybug nodded. "I've been... um, great."

It wasn't exactly a lie. She had been great for a few years. She just decided to omit the recent events.

"Good."

Ladybug nodded. "Good."

The two of them stood in awkward silence for a long moment, neither of them meeting the other's gaze. Finally, Chat spoke- but what he had to say was not something Ladybug wanted to hear.

"Ladybug... I don't think I can do this."

Ladybug frowned at him, concerned. "What do you mean?"

"I don't think I can be here with you and act like nothing ever happened. You left, LB. You just... you just came over to me one day and told me you were leaving, and then you were just gone. I never thought I was going to see you again." He had the beginnings of tears shining in his eyes. "I don't think you understand how much that hurt, Ladybug. You were one of the only people in my life I felt I could really trust, and then you just abandoned me without any warning at all."

Ladybug was speechless for a moment. "I... I'm sorry, Chat. But I had the chance to come here and live my dream, and I had to take it."

He nodded. "I get that. I'm not saying you shouldn't have come here- I'm just saying it hurt when you did. Especially since you didn't mention it until the day you left and didn't give me any way to contact you."

"I couldn't do that without revealing my identity."

Chat let out a bitter laugh. "I know. I know you always had this whole thing about not being able to know each other's true identities, but we've known each other for seventeen freaking years and I still don't know your name or anything about you other than that you used to live in Paris and now you live in New York. Do you really not trust me, even after all this time?"

"I do trust you," Ladybug insisted desperately.

"Then why can't I know?" Chat snapped. "All those years that we were partners, you always refused to tell me. All I ever wanted was to be close to you, but you would never let me in. I tried, and I tried, and I tried, but no matter what I did, nothing ever got you to trust me enough to let down your walls. Why?"

"Because I was scared," Ladybug shouted angrily. "I was just a teenage girl trying to juggle school, friends, figuring out who I was, and having the entire city depending on me all at once. I was insecure and angsty, and I felt so alone because nobody knew my secret. I couldn't tell my parents, or my friends, or anyone, because I just knew that they would never look at Ladybug the same way again. Because if they knew that I was Ladybug, they would know that I was a fraud. Ladybug is supposed to be brave and invincible and be able to do anything, but I was none of those things. I was pathetic. I was an awkward, clumsy, insecure teenage girl who was in love with a boy who was majorly out of her league, and I knew that they would never treat me the same way again after they found out I was Ladybug, and I knew that they would be disappointed that it was me."

"Do you think I wasn't scared, too?" Chat yelled. "I was terrified! I only had, like, four friends as a kid, and I was crazy in love with two of them, including you! I was never good at making friends, and I couldn't risk losing them- but you were different. You had the same secret I had. I was scared to tell you who I was, obviously, but I still wanted to do it so badly, because you were the only person in the whole world who could relate. I wanted- no, I needed to talk about it with someone, but I just couldn't do that with Ladybug. I needed the girl under the mask, but I could never get to her."

"I'm sorry, Chat," Ladybug said. "But I just couldn't do it."

Chat took a deep breath to calm himself. "I know. And I don't blame you. I'm sorry I blew up at you. I... I would never want to force you to do something that makes you uncomfortable, but... I don't think I can just go along with it anymore."

"Why?" Ladybug begged. "Why can't things just stay the same as they always were between us?"

"Because they're not the same," Chat said. "I know it, and you know it. We're not kids anymore. We're old enough to have kids. I'm not going to make you tell me who you are, but I'm not going to stick around and let myself get hurt over and over again. Not anymore."

A tear slid down Ladybug's cheek. "Chat."

Chat shook his head a tiny bit, his lip quivering. "When we were kids, I was optimistic that you would tell me one day. I had hope. Every day, no matter how many times you turned me down, I still had hope. But... when you suddenly left me alone, every ounce of hope I had died. I was nineteen then. I was still learning about life. I was devastated when you abandoned me, and even though my feelings for you were unrequited, I didn't know how to live without you in my life. I didn't know who I was anymore. I mean, who is Chat Noir without his Ladybug? But in the past decade, I've healed. I moved on and learned to live without you. But it took time. It was a long and difficult process. And Ladybug... I can't put myself through that again."

"So, what?" Ladybug asked, her voice trembling. "You're just going to give up? You're just never going to speak to me again unless I tell you my identity?"

Chat Noir shook his head. "I don't want you to tell me your identity anymore, LB. I mean, obviously I want to know, but it's clear that you don't want me to know, and I don't want to force you into it. Besides, since that hope died over ten years ago, I see more clearly now. I know you're not going to tell me your identity. I guess I'll never know. But I'll make my peace with that."

Ladybug sniffed, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Why did you even come here tonight?"

Chat took a step toward her and wiped the tears off her cheeks. "To say goodbye."

A broken sob escaped Ladybug's throat. "Please, Chat, no."

With tears streaming down his own face, Chat gave Ladybug a gentle kiss on her forehead. Ladybug squeezed her eyes shut.

"Goodbye, Ladybug," he whispered. "I'll never forget you."

Withthat, he extended his baton, leaped off the roof, and sailed away into thenight. 


	7. Drinking Buddies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Marinette and Adrien are bad at dealing with breakups.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love this chapter. It was so fun to write. Also, sorry about those last two.

Marinette had never been one to sulk.

Yes, she _had_ had a tendency to overreact as a teenager, but she never truly _sulked._

So, as she sat sulking in her office with dried tears on her face, she couldn't help but wonder how she got to this point.

Mere months ago, she had been positively thriving. Now she was homeless, fiancé-less, and once again Chat Noir-less.

She was pathetic.

She suddenly snapped out of her trance as she heard a door close down the hall. Her stomach lurched. What time was it?

She checked the clock. It was three in the morning, which meant the cleaning crew must have finished by now, but it was far too early for any daytime employees to be arriving. So, who was here?

Cautiously, she inched her office door open and poked her head out into the hallway. There was a light on in the break room.

Could it be a robber? Supernova was a big and very popular fashion label, so there could very well be a great deal of money somewhere in the building.

Marinette stepped back into her office and looked around for something to use as a weapon in case she needed to defend herself. The best she could find was a pair of fabric scissors.

Holding the scissors in her right hand, ready to attack if the need presented itself, she quietly exited her office and crept down the hall.

Her heart was pounding, which didn't make sense to her, because she had been stopping criminals as Ladybug for years.

But she wasn't Ladybug right now. She was just Marinette at the moment. And just like after the bombing, she knew that whatever happened couldn't be undone.

She could hear someone moving inside the break room as she approached. She lifted her scissors up to nose level- which would be about neck level on the average-sized man- and tip-toed toward the door.

Suddenly, the door swung open. She let out a shriek and braced herself to attack, only to be met by another shriek and the startled face of Adrien Agreste.

"Woah, Marinette," he said, eyeing the fabric scissors in her grip. "I know we haven't been getting along quite like we used to lately, but is _that_ really necessary?"

Marinette lowered the scissors, her heart still pounding. "Sorry. I thought you were an intruder. What are you doing here at three in the morning?"

He looked her up and down, obviously taking note of the pajamas she was wearing, and quirked an eyebrow. "What are _you_ doing here at three in the morning?"

She straightened her posture a bit. "I work here."

"At three in the morning?"

"Maybe."

Adrien nodded, his eyes narrowed skeptically. "Okay. Well, I'll let you get back to work, then."

He began walking down the hall away from her, clutching a narrow paper bag.

"You never answered my question," she called after him.

He stopped and turned to look at her.

"What are you doing here at three in the morning?"

Adrien held up his bag. "I left something here. I needed to come get it."

Marinette took a step toward him. "What's in the bag?"

Adrien hesitated. "Um."

"You know," Marinette said slowly. "Technically, you don't _actually_ work here. You can't just enter an office building where you don't work at three in the morning and start taking things."

"I didn't," he said. "I left this here last week. I just needed it back."

"At three in the morning."

His eyes averted her gaze. "Maybe."

"What's in the bag, Adrien?"

After a long pause, he reluctantly opened the bag and pulled out a bottle of vodka.

Marinette quirked an eyebrow. "Rough night?"

Adrien scratched the back of his neck, and Marinette smiled. He looked like a kid again. A kid holding a bottle of vodka.

"I just, um," Adrien hesitated. "I guess I just broke up with someone. Kind of."

Marinette nodded and looked down at her feet. "Yeah. That- um- that's kind of the boat I'm in, too."

Adrien furrowed his brow. "Liam?" She nodded dejectedly. "But I thought things were going well between you two."

"They were," she said. "Things were... amazing between us."

"So... what happened?"

She shook her head a tiny bit, and she could feel the tears welling up again.

"I screwed it up." Now it was her turn to avoid Adrien's gaze as she attempted to wipe the tears away before he noticed. "I'm sorry I stuck my nose in your business."

He quietly approached her and placed a warm, comforting hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and finally met his eyes. He offered the liquor bottle to her.

Minutes later, they were sitting against the wall on the floor of Marinette's office, sharing the bottle of vodka.

"I can't believe I messed everything up again," Marinette said after a few minutes. "I mean, we had the _perfect_ relationship. Nothing could have messed it up. How the heck did I manage to ruin it?"

"I'm sure you didn't ruin it," Adrien said comfortingly.

Marinette nodded. "Oh, I did. I destroy all of my relationships. I blew it with Liam, I ruined things with one of my best friends- I just can't have meaningful relationships with people without screwing it all up."

Adrien shook his head. "That's not true. What about Alya?"

Marinette considered it. "Okay, so I can't have meaningful relationships with _guys_ without screwing it all up." She took another swig of vodka and winced.

"Marinette," Adrien said, his speech slightly slurred due to the alcohol. "Did you dump Liam, or did he dump you?"

"He did."

"It's 'cause he's trash," Adrien said. "He's a garbage man."

Marinette nodded. "Garbage man. Yeah."

"You're awesome."

"I'm awesome."

"Freaking incredible. Wonder woman."

"I don't know about _Wonder Woman."_

"Any guy who can't see how amazing you are and love you for it is a rat man."

Marinette giggled at his use of the term "rat man," then turned to look him in the eyes. "You didn't love me."

Adrien gave her a tiny smile. "Yes, I did."

"Okay, but you loved me in a _friend_ way. I don't want to be _friends_ with Liam, I want to marry him."

"I loved you in more than just a friend way."

Marinette laughed. "Okay. Sure."

"I did!" Adrien insisted. "I had a crush on you for, like, four years."

"No, you did _not."_

Adrien laughed. "Yes, I did!"

"You're just trying to make me feel better."

Adrien held his hands up as if in surrender. "Fine. Believe what you want to believe. The point is: Liam is trash. You're way too good for him."

Marinette nodded hesitantly. "But... he's not trash. He's sweet, and loving, and gentle, and funny, and I love him."

Adrien is silent for a long moment. "So, do you think he's worth all this?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you think he's worthy of your tears?"

Marinette thought about it. "Yes."

"Do you want him back? Do you _really_ want to make it work?"

"Yes."

Adrien shrugged. "Then make it work."

She looked at him again. "What?"

"Go to him," he advised her. "I mean, not now, obviously. Wait until it's daytime and you haven't been drinking. But go to him. Try to work it out. Convince him that you _can_ work it out."

"But what if he doesn't want me?"

"Then at least you tried," he said. "I mean, would you rather live your life knowing that you did all that you could to get him back or never knowing whether you could have fixed it or not?"

Marinette slowly smiled, then leaned over to give the blond man a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Adrien."

He smiled down at her. "Anything for you."


	8. Adrien Agreste: Engagement Counselor Extraordinaire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Marinette makes a decision, and reader frustration increases.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've officially posted over half of the chapters now! Hooray! Also, I only have one summer assignment this year, and I'll most likely finish it either today or tomorrow, which will give me the rest of the summer to write as much as I can. I've already started the sequel to this, so hopefully that'll be out in a couple of months or so, but I can't make any promises. If I don't finish it (or at least get close to finishing it) before school starts again (in mid-August), it will probably be a while- although I'm only taking two AP classes this year, as opposed to four last year, so hopefully I'll have more free time during the school year.

Adrien left and went home at about five that morning. Marinette ensured that he took a taxi home rather than attempt to drive himself.

Marinette spent most of the next morning trying to hide the fact that she was hungover from her coworkers.

The moment the clock struck twelve, she left the building for her lunch break and took a cab to Liam's office, where she sat on the hood of his car in the parking lot and waited for him to exit the building. She knew he always left work for lunch.

After only a few minutes, her heart jumped as she saw him walk through the doors. He got about halfway to her before he saw her and froze in his tracks. She offered him a small, hopeful smile and a hesitant wave.

He sighed and began to approach her once more.

"Marinette," he said reluctantly. "What are you doing here?"

"I want to make this work," she told him. "I feel like I didn't try hard enough to earn your forgiveness before, and I regret that. I love you, Liam, and I want to be with you. I want to try to work this out."

Liam shook his head a little bit. "Marinette, I... I don't know if I can trust you anymore after you kept such a huge secret from me all this time."

"I'm sorry," Marinette said earnestly. "I shouldn't have done that. It was wrong of me to hide it from you. But I promise I'll tell you everything from now on- if you'll let me."

"Marinette..."

"Please, Liam," she begged. "Don't you want to make this work? Don't you want to marry me?"

He was silent for was seemed like an eternity before he finally spoke.

"Okay," he said.

Marinette's eyes lit up. "Okay?"

Liam nodded. "Okay. Let's make it work."

Marinette smiled.

***

That evening, after they both returned to their apartment, they had a long, heart-felt discussion about where to go from that point. They argued, they yelled, and tears were shed, but in the end, they found they both agreed on three things.

One: They loved and missed each other.

Two: They wanted to get married.

Three: _Something_ had to be done about the Ladybug situation.

The third was the point on which they fought the most. Liam wanted Marinette to give up being Ladybug forever, but Marinette insisted that she couldn't. She was willing to try to find some sort of compromise, but she couldn't just give up on her alter ego.

"You don't understand," she told him. "I've been Ladybug since I was thirteen. She's a part of my identity! I wouldn't be who I am today without having been Ladybug!"

"I _do_ understand that," he argued. "But, unlike you, I also understand that sometimes, you just have to move on from things you love. I'm not saying you should get rid of the miraculous. Keep it. Maintain your friendship with your talking bug. But if you can't stop being Ladybug for me, I can't be your husband."

The words stung. So did the tears welling up in Marinette's eyes.

She didn't give him an answer at that moment. She told him she would have to think about it.

She slept on the couch that night.

***

The next day, she couldn't stop thinking about Liam's terms.

How could she give up Ladybug? She _was_ Ladybug; she couldn't just change who she was.

But at the same time, she was also Marinette. And no one _knew_ she was Ladybug except Liam.

She had gone ten years without transforming before. Surely, she would be fine without being Ladybug.

And it wasn't like she would have to give up her friendship with Tikki. She would be able to keep her best friend and confidante of the past seventeen years.

She just wouldn't be Ladybug anymore.

If she accepted his terms, she would never again feel the way she felt as Ladybug. The freedom in which she had reveled so often for so many years would just be gone.

It was an enormous price to pay to save her relationship.

But, if it _did_ save her relationship, wouldn't it be worth it?

It was an impossible decision.

***

Over the course of the next few days, Marinette was constantly distracted from her work. She only had weak arguments with Adrien, and she took far longer than usual to dress one model.

At one point, Adrien asked for her opinion on one of the models' outfits. She glanced in the general direction of the model and gave him a thumbs-up.

Mere minutes later, Adrien gently pulled her aside to speak in private.

"Are you okay?"

She furrowed her brow. "Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be okay?"

"I mixed lines."

"What?"

He huffed. "On that model a couple of minutes ago. I mixed lines in her outfit, and you didn't even notice."

"I- I noticed," Marinette stuttered defensively. "Of course I noticed. I'm just too tired to fight you about it. Maybe tomorrow."

Adrien seemed unconvinced. "Are you sure you're okay? You've been so distracted the last few days."

"Thank you for your concern, but I'm completely fine.

"Did something happen with Liam?"

"What?"

"You said you were going to try to make amends with him. Did you talk to him? What happened?"

Marinette hesitated. "He... he said he wants to marry me."

Adrien gave her a smile. "That's wonderful, Mari."

"But..." she bit her lower lip. "He wants me to give up on something I love."

"Well... what is it?"

"It's- um- kind of personal. I've been doing it for over half of my life now, and it's really important to me, but he says he can't be my husband if I won't stop doing it."

"What are you doing to do?"

"I don't know. What do _you_ think I should do?"

Adrien thought it over. "Well, that depends. Is this thing he wants you to give up harmful to him?"

"Well... no."

"Is it harmful to _you?"_

"Potentially, I guess so, but it's only really had negative consequences for me a couple of times in nearly two decades."

"Is it harmful to your relationship?"

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Obviously it is, since he's saying he won't marry me if I keep up with it."

"But _should_ it be harmful to your relationship? If you were to keep doing it and he was on board, would it really pose a threat to your marriage with him?"

Marinette hesitated. "I don't think so."

Adrien sighed. "Marinette, I don't know what to tell you. If you think your relationship is worth giving up on whatever it is, then I guess you should do it." Marinette nodded slowly. "But..."

Marinette looked at him. "But what?"

Adrien hesitated, then shook his head. "Nothing." He started to turn away, but her hand caught his shoulder and stopped him.

"What is it?"

Adrien was silent for a long moment, then reluctantly spoke. "It's just that... I don't know. Maybe it's not my place to say this, but... it seems to me like Liam is trying to control you."

"What? No, he's not."

"Maybe that was a poor choice of words," Adrien said, scratching the back of his neck. "But saying he won't marry you if you don't stop doing whatever this is, even though it doesn't sound harmful to either of you or to your relationship, sounds... controlling. Especially since it's so important to you."

"He's not controlling me."

"Okay..." Adrien said slowly. "Just... be careful, okay? And again, I know it's probably not my place to say this, so I'm sorry, but... controlling behavior is a sign of an abusive relationship."

Marinette's draw dropped. "Abusive?! You think Liam is _abusing_ me?!"

"No," Adrien said quickly. "I don't think that. I just think that you should be careful. Watch out for more signs of emotional abuse from him. I say this because I care about you, Marinette, and I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Liam is _not_ abusive, and he will never _be_ abusive," Marinette huffed. "If _anything_ is abusive, it's that outfit you put on that model over there! _That_ is abuse to the _eyes."_

And they were back to their bickering and arguing- except that now it was even more intense than before.

***

"Marinette, what are you doing for Christmas this year?" Daisy asked the next day as they ate lunch together.

Marinette poked at her salad with her fork. "I'm going home to Paris for a few days."

Daisy squealed excitedly. "Ooh, that sounds fun! Is Liam going with you?"

Marinette pauses, suddenly realizing that whether or not he would still be accompanying her on the trip hadn't crossed her mind- and that she never told Daisy about what had happened.

"Um, I don't know," she said slowly. "We'll see. He hasn't made a decision yet."

"Well, he needs to make one quickly."

"Yeah. He does."

***

Marinette's heart pounded as she approached her apartment door.

She had finally made a decision, and now it was time to tell Liam.

"Hey, Mari," Liam said absent-mindedly as she entered. He was reading a book on the couch, and he didn't take his eyes off of it as he greeted her.

"Liam."

"Yeah?"

"I made a decision."

He looked up at her and sat up, setting his book to the side. "And?"

Marinette took a deep breath.

"I'm not going to be Ladybug anymore."


	9. The Adrien Shrine Guest Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Liam go to Paris.

In the weeks following Marinette's decision, her relationship with Liam was absolutely magical. They were more honest with each other than they had ever been, and they both greatly appreciated it. They were more thoughtful and considerate of one another, and they were both happier than they had ever been now that they were back together.

Obviously Marinette was upset that she couldn't be Ladybug anymore, but she was a grown woman now, and adulthood was about making sacrifices that would pay off in the long run. This was one of those situations- right?

Three weeks later, it was time to leave for Paris.

They boarded the plane early in the morning and arrived in France in the evening. Liam was entranced by everything he saw, as it was his first trip to Europe.

"Marinette!" a familiar voice called while they were in the airport. Marinette turned to see her father waving at her. She could also see her mother's hand waving in the air, but she was too small to appear over the heads of the people in the crowd.

"There are my parents," she told Liam, smiling widely as she pointed them out to him.

They ran to Tom and Sabine. Marinette hugged both of them tightly; it had been about a year since she had seen them in person.

"Marinette! Est-ce ton fiancé?" Sabine asked with a huge grin.

_["Marinette! Is this your fiancé?" Sabine asked with a huge grin.]_

"Oui, Maman," Marinette beamed.

_["Yes, Mama," Marinette beamed.]_

Sabine turned to smile warmly up at Liam. "Hello, Liam," she said with a thick accent. "I am Marinette's mother. It is so good to finally meet you!"

"It's good to meet you, too," Liam said, grinning at her.

They exited the airport as quickly as possible, weaving their way through the crowd as they pulled their luggage behind them.

Liam stared out the window nearly the entire car ride home, wide-eyed and grinning in awe. Marinette laughed. He was adorable.

When they arrived at Marinette's childhood home, her parents helped them bring their luggage inside the bakery and up to the apartment above it, where Marinette flipped on the light.

_"Surprise!"_

Marinette laughed as she saw a crowd of people standing in the living room, including many of her Parisian friends. 

"Qu'est-ce que c'est?" Marinette asked.

_["What's this?" Marinette asked.]_

"Votre fiançailles!" Sabine exclaimed.

_["Your engagement party!" Sabine exclaimed.]_

Alya suddenly ran forward and encased her in a big hug. "Marinette! You're finally here!" 

Marinette broke away from the hug in surprise. "And _you're_ speaking English."

Alya nodded and smiled. "Well, since Nino and I are moving to New York next summer-"

"Wait, _what?"_

Alya grinned widely. "We made the decision before you and Liam even got engaged." 

Marinette shrieked excitedly and hugged her again, and several people laughed, even though they didn't quite seem to know what was going on. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

Alya laughed. "It was a surprise! Anyway, since we'll be moving there next summer, I figured we should _probably_ learn English."

"Yeah. That would be a good idea."

"So, we've been taking classes for a while now, and I was hoping to practice with you since you already know English."

Marinette laughed, grinning widely. "That's great, Alya. What are you going to do in New York?" 

"I already have a job lined up at the New York Times," she said excitedly.

"That's incredible!"

"I know! I am so excited!"

The chatting continued for hours. Some was in English to Alya, Nino, and Liam, and some in French to everyone else.

About three hours later, when only a handful of people remained, Marinette and Liam finally retrieved their forgotten luggage from the edge of the room and carried it up to Marinette's old bedroom.

Liam smiled when he saw the room. "So, this is where teenage Marinette spent her free time, huh?"

"Yup."

Liam laughed as he spotted something on her wall, then walked over to get a better look at it. "Wow, you really did have an Adrien Agreste shrine."

Marinette blushed and covered her face with her hand. "I completely forgot that those pictures were still there."

"You weren't kidding when you said you were a lovesick teenager over him."

"No, no I was not." Marinette sighed. "I'm just glad that's in the past now. Life is so much easier when you don't have an all-consuming crush on your famous classmate."

Liam laughed. "I'd imagine."

"Holy crap," Marinette said suddenly as she noticed something else. "I forgot about this!"

She pointed at two small initials carved into the wood of her desk: C.N.

Liam gave her a questioning look.

"Chat Noir," she explained with a small smile. "One night when he was over here, he carved his initials into the desk with his claw and told me he would always be here."

Liam nodded as he inspected the carving. "He had it bad for you."

Marinette looked at him. "What?"

"Chat Noir had a huge crush on you," he said.

"No, he didn't."

"Yes, he _obviously_ did."

"That's not true!"

"Marinette," he gave her a look. "He kissed you."

"We kissed _each other._ One time. At one in the morning! It doesn't count if it's at one in the morning, everyone knows that."

"No one knows that. That's not an actual rule."

"Yes, it is!"

Liam rolled his eyes. "Either way, he had a crush on you. I mean, he came to your bedroom every week-"

"Because we were friends!"

"Did he not have any other friends in the city?"

"Maybe all his other friends knew him as a civilian instead of as Chat Noir."

"So? He didn't _have_ to go as Chat Noir."

"It was just our tradition! We liked hanging out together, so we made it tradition to hang out every week- is that a crime?"

"I'm not criticizing you, Mari. I'm just saying that he liked you."

"As a friend."

Liam gave a resigned sigh. "Okay. Sure. Whatever you say."

Marinette grinned triumphantly and turned around to continue to inspect her old room. Her smile softened a bit as she approached the window overlooking the city.

"I've always loved that skyline," she said softly, staring nostalgically at the silhouettes of the buildings surrounding the bakery.

"It's beautiful," Liam agreed, joining her by the doors and placing a hand on her shoulder. "It must have been amazing to grow up here."

She nodded. "It really was. And it was so perfect for soaring over rooftops all night as La- oh." Marinette suddenly stopped. She knew Ladybug was a bit of a sore subject for Liam. "Sorry."

"It's okay," he said.

Marinette continued to stare longingly out at the city, bathed in pink and orange in the setting sun. All of a sudden, she wanted nothing more than to transform again, and just be Ladybug in Paris one more time.

But she couldn't.

Liam seemed to sense what she was thinking. They were in love, after all.

"You know," he said gently. "Maybe it wouldn't hurt for Ladybug to make one final appearance in Paris."

Marinette smiled.

***

And she was soaring.

She flew from roof to roof, reveling in the feeling of the wind on her face.

It was dark now. She had waited to leave for a couple of hours after Liam's suggestion because she knew he and Nino had planned a night out to get acquainted with one another. If they were going to be living in the same city while their wives were best friends, they might as well attempt to befriend each other as well.

They had left together a few minutes ago, and now she was soaring giddily through the air, vaulting from rooftop to rooftop across the city. 

After a while, she stopped at the edge of the roof of a bank, standing still and simply feeling the night breeze on her face and in her hair.

"Ladybug?!" a voice shouted. She looked down to see a handful of pedestrians standing in a group across the street from the bank, staring up at her and holding up their phones to take pictures. "Is that really you?"

"It's me," she called back with a grin.

A couple of the pedestrians cheered.

"We knew you would return to us, Ladybug!"

Ladybug's smile faded. She wasn't really returning to them. She couldn't continue to be Ladybug.

This was the last time the citizens of Paris would ever see their heroine. 

***

Marinette landed on her balcony half an hour later and quietly reentered her bedroom. Liam still wasn't back, but her parents were downstairs, and she didn't want to wake them.

She detransformed on her bed and began creeping silently toward the opposite side of the room to get some pajamas from her suitcase when a lamp suddenly clicked on in the room.

Marinette's stomach lurched as she froze with wide eyes.

"Well, well, well... what do we have here?"

Marinette spun around.

Alya was sitting on her desk with Lucie in her lap.


	10. Alya is Best Friend Goals (But We Been Knew)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Alya is the light of my life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you guys know: after editing, I ended up splitting the final chapter of this into two chapters, so now it's 15 chapters instead of 14.

"Alya," Marinette stuttered. "I- I can explain."

"No need, Marinette," Alya said, standing up and holding Lucie in one arm. "I know you're Ladybug."

"What? No, I'm-"

"Save it, Mari," Alya interrupted. "I mean, how oblivious do you think I am? Ladybug disappears right around the same time you leave Paris, only to show up again in the city where you live a freaking decade later, then reappears in Paris the same night you arrive? I don't think that's just a coincidence."

"No, there's- um- a perfectly logical explanation for-"

"I can't believe I didn't see it before," Alya interrupted again, turning away from Marinette. "I mean, all those years of you disappearing during akuma attacks- and you look exactly like her! How did I not see it?"

Marinette took a deep breath. There was no escaping this now. She could already feel a painful lump forming in her throat, warning her of the tears that would soon begin to fall.

"Look, Alya, I'm sor-"

"I have so many questions," Alya said excitedly, spinning around to face her with a huge grin. Lucie laughed as she spun.

Marinette furrowed her brow. "Wait... you're not mad?"

"Mad? Why would I be mad? My best friend is a superhero!"

Marinette shrugged hesitantly. "I don't know, I just thought you would be mad that I kept it from you for so long."

Alya thought it over. "Well, when I first figured it out about an hour ago, I was a little bit irritated, but not mad. Then I realized that you were just doing what every superhero does and protecting your loved ones. Plus, you always did so much for me as Ladybug that I guess I owe it to you not to be mad. Anyway, back to my questions: Where do you get your powers? Did you get to choose your suit? What's Chat Noir like when you get to know him?"

"My powers come from my magic earrings, I didn't get to choose the suit, but apparently they are designed based on our deepest desires or something, and he's really great."

"Wait, magic earrings?"

"Yeah," Marinette gestures to her earrings. "I've worn these every day since I got my powers. Without them, I wouldn't be able to transform."

"Wow," Alya breathed in awe. "That is so cool!"

Marinette laughed and sat down on her chaise, and Alya followed suit.

"So, you and Chat Noir were totally a thing, right?"

Marinette blushed. "Um... not as Ladybug."

Alya stared at her blankly. "But as... Marinette?"

"I mean... kind of. I guess."

At that moment, Alya shrieked. Lucie did the same.

"Keep your voice down," Marinette hushed them urgently, glancing at her door. "My parents are in the house!"

"They know I'm here," she said. "I told them Lucie and I came over for a playdate. Now spill."

"We weren't even really dating," Marinette explained. "We just kissed one time."

Alya squealed excitedly, and Lucie giggled. Marinette shushed them again.

"Anyway," Marinette continued. "He used to come over every Friday night, and we would have movie nights and game nights and stuff. We kissed one time. Other than that, it was all completely platonic."

"Who is he, though?"

Marinette faltered. "What?"

"I mean, if he was coming over to your house every week and you guys were spending so much time together, you must have known who he was, right?"

Marinette shook her head. "No."

Alya furrowed her brow. "Really?"

"Really. He was just Chat Noir to me. I never knew who he was underneath the mask."

"Huh. Didn't that ever get... frustrating?"

Marinette shrugged. "I mean, obviously I wanted to know who he was, but it wasn't fair for me to ask him who he was when he didn't know who I was. I knew I couldn't ask him to reveal his identity until I was ready to reveal mine, and I just... never got to that point with him."

Alya nodded as Lucie grabbed her face. "So, who else does know?"

"Just you, the man who gave me my powers, and Liam."

"You told Liam?"

"Well, not really. It kind of just... came out."

"How?"

"After I got hurt in the attack in New York, Ladybug showed up bleeding on our balcony when he was at home, and he put the pieces together."

"What did he say?"

"He..." Marinette could feel her eyes starting to burn remembering the events. "He was mad. I was never able to summon the nerve to tell any of you guys, but... we broke up for a little bit because of it."

Alya's jaw dropped. "He broke up with you?"

"Just for a couple of days," Marinette said. "He felt like he couldn't trust me anymore after I kept that secret for so long, and honestly, I can't blame him."

"But he trusts you now?"

"Well..." Marinette bit her lip. "I kind of agreed not to be Ladybug anymore so that we could be together again. Tonight was an exception. Kind of a last hurrah before saying goodbye to that part of me entirely."

"What?"

"He was afraid I would get hurt, and he said he couldn't be with me if I was going to risk my life," Marinette explained. "So, I agreed to stop."

"He made you stop being Ladybug?"

"I mean, he didn't _make_ me."

"But he told you he wouldn't marry you- or even be with you at all- if you didn't stop?"

"Well... yes."

Alya shook her head. "But Ladybug's a part of you. It's who you are. He can't take that away from you."

"He didn't. It was my decision."

"Marinette," Alya said slowly, reaching out to hold Marinette's hand in hers. "You deserve someone who loves every part of you- not just what he sees on the surface."

"He does love every part of me," Marinette said defensively, pulling her hand away. "Ladybug is... someone else."

"No," Alya insisted as Lucie babbled in gibberish. "Ladybug is you."

"Not anymore, Alya." Marinette said. "I've given up that part of me. It's not who I am anymore."

"But why?"

"Because he doesn't want me to get hurt. He doesn't want to fear for my life constantly."

"Nino doesn't want to fear for _my_ life," Alya said. "But he didn't tell me he would divorce me when I had that opportunity to go be a war correspondent three years ago. I was in a freaking war zone for _months,_ Mari. He was terrified for me. But he knew that reporting is a part of me, and that he had to let me be me. And it's a good thing, too, because if it hadn't been for that job, I probably never would have been offered a job at the New York Times."

"That's different," Marinette said. "He's known since we were kids that you would do anything for a story. Liam had no idea what was going on when we started going out, or even when we got engaged."

Alya finally raised her hands in surrender. "Fine. Whatever you say, girl. I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I won't get hurt," Marinette insisted. "Liam would never hurt me."

"He already did once."

"That was my fault! I did what I needed to do to fix our relationship, and now we're happier than ever. It won't happen again. Ever."

"Okay, Marinette. Just... be careful."

And with that, Alya left, saying something about Lucie's bedtime.


	11. The Engagement Counselor Extraordinaire Returns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien gives Marinette a piece of advice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're nearing the end! Only four chapters to go after this!
> 
> I've been working on the sequel, and I think you guys are going to like it. I can tell you right now that it'll make you happier than this one.

The next day, interactions between Marinette and Alya were a bit strained.

How could Alya think that Liam would ever hurt her again? It was ridiculous.

Still... it _was_ a bit unfair of him to use their relationship as a bargaining tool. And Alya had brought up a few good points.

But Alya didn't really know Liam. Not like Marinette did. When he hurt her, it was only because she had hurt him first.

And it would never, ever happen again.

***

Following her little escapade on her first night back in Paris after so long, Marinette kept seeing people talking about Ladybug online. People were freaking out and thinking that their heroine had finally returned.

She felt guilty for getting their hopes up when she knew she couldn't be Ladybug anymore. She knew she had to do something.

So, despite the tension between them, she approached Alya.

***

"Je ne reviens pas," Ladybug explained to the camera. "Je voulais être Ladybug une dernière fois. Je veux fonder une famille, et je ne peux pas faire ça si je suis Ladybug. Alors..." she took a deep breath. "Je ne serai plus Ladybug. J'aimais être Ladybug pour toutes ces années, mais je ne peux plus. Merci pour tout ce que vous faisiez pour moi. Je vous aime, et j'aime Paris, mais... c'est la fois pour moi dire au revoir." She felt a single tear slide down her cheek. "Je ne vous oublierai jamais. Au revoir."

_["I'm not coming back," Ladybug explained to the camera. "I wanted to be Ladybug one last time. I want to start a family, and I can't do that if I'm Ladybug. So..." she took a deep breath. "I'm not going to be Ladybug anymore. I've loved being Ladybug for all these years, but I can't anymore. Thank you for all that you have done for me. I love you all, and I love Paris, but... it's time for me to say goodbye." She felt a single tear slide down her cheek. "I will never forget you. Goodbye."]_

Alya clicked off the camera and stared at her in silence for a moment. "Are you okay, Mari?"

Marinette wiped the tear from her face and detransformed. "Yes. I'm fine."

"Are you sure you want me to upload this?"

Marinette hesitated for a long moment. "Yes. I'm sure."

Alya took a deep breath and clicked the post button.

Instantly, the Ladyblog was flooded with comments.

It was official.

Marinette was no longer Ladybug.

***

Marinette felt almost relieved on the plane ride back home. She had been so excited to go back to Paris, and spending Christmas with her family had been wonderful, but now she just needed to get out of that city.

It was the city where she had become Ladybug, and it was the city where she had officially- and publicly- given up Ladybug.

She just wanted to go home; and now they were on their way.

"Le Tournoi de Papillon is in less than a month, you know," Marinette said to Liam as she leaned over toward him during the flight. "So, my apologies in advance if I'm a bit frazzled over the next three weeks."

Liam smiled at her. "I'm so proud of you. I can't wait to see the show."

Marinette smiled. "Thank you."

***

She knew it was ridiculous, but she couldn't help it: Alya's words were haunting her.

Nearly every time she interacted with Liam over the next week, she couldn't help but remember what she had said.

_Did_ he love every part of her? Or just what was on the surface?

Once again, she was distracted from her work.

"Are you okay, Marinette?" Ms. Givens asked her at one point. "You've been so distracted lately. I had hoped that going on vacation for Christmas would help, but evidently not. Is there something going on with you?"

Marinette shook her head. "I'm fine. Thank you for your concern, though."

But she wasn't fine. She was tearing herself apart with worry.

She needed to talk to someone.

And that someone turned out to be Adrien.

She had been hesitant to confide in him again after what he had suggested the last time, but she didn't know who else would listen like he would.

"Wait, so let me get this straight," Adrien said after she explained what she could of her predicament. "You agreed to give up whatever thing it was Liam wanted you to give up, and your relationship was great, but Alya now thinks that he doesn't trust you and that you might get hurt in the future, and now you're worried she might be right?"

"Exactly."

Adrien thought about his response for a moment. "I think you should follow your heart, Mari," he said finally. "If you love and trust Liam and really believe that he won't hurt you, then... be with him. If that's what you want."

"But what if I _do_ end up getting hurt?"

"Then at least you'll know that he's not the one for you."

Marinette sniffed. "I don't know what to do, Adrien. I don't want to leave him, but... he's asking so much of me, and I..." she felt a hot tear escape from her eye and trace a path down her cheek. "I thought I could do it, but then I actually did it, and now..." a tiny sob escaped her throat.

"Hey," Adrien said, gently wiping the tear from her face with his thumb. "Come here." He opened his arms.

She gladly accepted the hug and was soon encased in the tight embrace of Adrien Agreste. He softly stroked her hair, his chin resting on the top of her head.

"You should never settle," he told her softly. "You are... incredible. You deserve so much more than someone who doesn't love all of you. And if that's not Liam, then maybe you deserve better than him."

Better than Liam?

"I think you should sit down and have a serious conversation with him," Adrien advised her. "Tell him what his request is doing to you. Tell him your concerns. Tell him you need someone who loves every part of you, not just some of you. Have that conversation, and then go from there."

Marinette nodded into his chest, then pulled away from the hug. "Thank you, Adrien. I don't know what I would do without you."

Adrien gave her a small smile, and she could detect something that seemed like sadness in his eyes. Sympathy.

"Anything for you, Marinette."

***

That evening, Marinette instigated yet another serious conversation with Liam. It seemed to her like ever since he found out about her alter ego, the only conversations they had were serious- and stressful.

Marinette told him her concerns. She told him how she felt. She told him about how she had been tearing herself up inside with no way to release that tension. They argued. They yelled. Tears were shed. But once again, they finally came to an agreement.

It was wrong of Liam to ask Marinette to give up such a big part of who she was entirely.

Eventually, they came up with a compromise that worked for both of them: she could be Ladybug on weekends and if someone needed her.

It was less than what she wanted, but it was better than nothing.

She could be Ladybug again.


	12. Marinette Did Not Have Hate Sex with Adrien Agreste

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Adrien and Liam finally meet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Fourth of July to my fellow Americans!
> 
> I realized yesterday that, in the past two months alone, I have written more than 30k words of Miraculous Ladybug fanfiction.
> 
> It's been a great two months.

The next day, Marinette practically tackled Adrien the moment she saw him.

"Thank you so much," she said into his chest as she hugged him tightly.

"I take it my advice about Liam worked?"

"Yes," she said happily, pulling away from him. "It worked perfectly. Thank you so much."

"Of course," he told her with a smile. "If you ever need anything else, you can always come to me."

"Thank you, Adrien, thank you."

***

Over the next two weeks leading up to le Tournoi de Papillon, the working relationship between Marinette and Adrien was- to everyone's surprise- fantastic.

They finally managed to put the finishing touches on all of their models' outfits without fighting in the slightest. They still didn't agree on much, but now they were both much nicer about it than they were before.

"So," Daisy said to Marinette one day while they were eating lunch together in the otherwise empty break room. "What's the deal with you and Adrien?"

"What do you mean?"

"How long have you been together?"

Marinette choked on her lettuce wrap.

"What?" she coughed. "Adrien and I are _not_ together."

Daisy rolled her eyes. "Please, Marinette, we all see it."

"See what?"

"The way you look at each other," she said. "You're crazy about one another."

"No, we're not. I'm with Liam."

"Mari," she said, giving her a knowing look. "You're not the first woman to finally find the person you're meant to be with after you're already with someone else."

"I'm not meant to be with Adrien," Marinette argued defensively. "And we're not together! We're friends!"

"And where did that come from?" Daisy asked, poking absentmindedly at her pasta with her fork. "You two have been at each other's throats for months, and now all of a sudden you're besties? What's up with that?" She smiled excitedly. "Ooh, was it one of those things where you have hate sex and then suddenly realize you're perfect for one another?"

"No!" Marinette protested loudly. "We're not together, and we definitely didn't hook up!"

Daisy raised her arms in surrender. "Okay. Sorry. I guess I misread the situation. It must just be one-sided."

"Thank you," Marinette said, then processed the end of Daisy's statement. "Wait, one-sided? What do you mean?"

Daisy rolled her eyes again. "It's obvious Adrien has feelings for you. I thought you knew that."

"He doesn't have feelings for me."

"Okay, whatever you say. Just know that I see all his lingering touches, all his longing looks, all his wistful staring- he's into you, even if you're not into him."

But Marinette paid her no mind.

It obviously wasn't true.

It couldn't be.

***

Finally, the day for which they had been preparing for so long had arrived: le Tournoi de Papillon.

Marinette was buzzing with nerves all day. This competition was incredibly important and could potentially be huge for her.

The competition would begin at seven that evening, and before that, they had to make preparations and ensure that everything was running smoothly.

Marinette and Adrien checked in on all the models together to make sure they were feeling up to walk down the runway and to make sure everything was still fitting properly. They helped with the soundcheck and helped check the spelling of the words that would be projected onto the screen.

Finally, there were two hours left before the show, and there was nothing left to do.

"How are you feeling?" Adrien asked.

"Nervous," Marinette responded. "You?"

"Same as you."

They sat in comfortable silence for a bit, neither knowing what to say, but also not feeling much of a need to say anything at all.

"Marinette," a voice called suddenly. Marinette turned to see Liam approaching her with a smile on his face.

"Liam," she said and stood from her chair, also smiling. "What are you doing here so early? The show doesn't start until seven."

"I know," he said. "I thought it would be nice to go out for an early dinner before the show. I know you're nervous, and I thought it might help get your mind off the competition and calm your nerves a bit."

Marinette smiled and hugged him. "Thank you. That's so sweet."

"Ah, so _you're_ Liam," Adrien's voice said from behind her. She pulled away from Liam and looked at the blond, who was smiling and holding his hand out for Liam to shake. "I've heard a lot about you. Marinette talks about you all the time."

Liam smiles and shakes Adrien's hand. "And you are...?"

"Adrien Agreste."

Liam's smile faltered for a fraction of a second before returning instantly. "Well, Adrien, it seems like this is a very important competition for you, too. Are you nervous?"

_"So_ nervous," Adrien responded. "This is the first big thing I've done since I took over the company."

Liam furrowed his brow in confusion. "I thought you took over after your father was- um." He stopped mid-sentence.

"Arrested?" Adrien finished for him.

"Yes. Sorry if it's a sore subject or something, I wasn't thinking about-"

"It's okay," Adrien assured him. "Um, my father's assistant was the one who took over immediately after he was arrested, because I was only seventeen at the time. She passed it onto me when I was twenty-four. In my six years as CEO, I feel like I've done a lot for the company, but nothing really big like this."

Liam nodded. "Well, why don't you come to dinner with us?"

A slight twinge of panic shot through Marinette's body for reasons unbeknownst to her. For some reason, it just felt _wrong_ to have Liam and Adrien in the same place for an extended period of time.

"Thank you for the offer, but I wouldn't want to intrude," Adrien declined politely.

Marinette gave a tiny exhale of relief.

"It's not an intrusion," Liam insisted. "Really, you should come with us. Don't you think so, Marinette?"

Marinette plastered a friendly smile on her face. "Absolutely!"

Adrien hesitated.

"I insist," Liam said. "I'd love to get to know you better and to hear more about what Marinette was like as a teenager."

Finally, to Marinette's inexplicable dismay, Adrien reluctantly agreed to accompany them.

Despite the smile on her face, Marinette had a sinking feeling that this dinner would not go well.


	13. Marinette "He's Just a Friend" Dupain-Cheng

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroes have an underwhelming dinner with a lot of denial from Marinette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, how the turn tables.
> 
> I hope the "she's just a friend" meme never dies. I love it more than I love myself.
> 
> Two chapters to go! I can't believe it'll all be up a week from today!
> 
> I'm making good progress on the sequel- a bit more than 13k words so far. Also: a lot of the sequel IS about the romance and whatnot, BUT it also has more of a conflict that doesn't revolve around relationships than this one does. I can tell you right now that it will certainly end on a better note than this one.

They sat down to eat at about five thirty, meaning they still had an hour and a half before the show.

Marinette was getting antsy. During the whole car ride to the restaurant, Adrien and Liam had hardly said a word to each other. For some reason, she felt as if having the two of them in a room together was a ticking time bomb, and she couldn't help but wait apprehensively for the explosion.

Could it be because of what Daisy had said to her about Adrien having feelings for her? Surely not. Marinette knew it wasn't true- so why would she be so nervous about having both of them in the same room all of a sudden?

"So, Adrien," Liam began after a few minutes. Oh, no, here it came. Marinette braced herself. "Do you have any funny stories about Marinette from school?" Oh.

Adrien thought about it. "Well, the second time we ever spoke to each other, I let her borrow my umbrella, and she accidentally closed it on herself almost immediately."

Liam laughed and looked fondly at Marinette. "Of _course_ she did."

"Then there was the time when..."

Marinette was only halfway listening to Adrien's stories about her, but she still smiled nostalgically at the memories. However, her smile was also due in part to the laughter coming from both of the men at the table. They were getting along perfectly. Everything was fine. She had no idea why she had been so worried before.

"Did you know she had a shrine of pictures of you on her bedroom wall?" Liam asked at one point. Marinette blushed and rolled her eyes.

"Ha, yeah," Adrien laughed. "I forgot about that."

"Wait, what?" Marinette interjected. "You _knew_ about that? I always took it down when you came over- how did you know about it?"

Adrien looked mildly panicked for a moment. "Oh, um- dang it. Sorry. I wasn't supposed to let you know that I knew." Marinette quirked an eyebrow. "Nino accidentally told me about it once when he was drunk. He freaked out and made me promise not to tell you I knew, even though we were, like, twenty-seven by that point. He still felt like he had betrayed your trust. He would kill me if he knew I accidentally let it slip, so just... please don't mention it to him."

Marinette laughed. "Okay, I won't."

"Thanks."

Liam kept glancing between the two of them. "So..." he said at one point. "I know Marinette had a crush on you, Adrien, but I can't help but wonder if that crush was ever reciprocated."

"Oh," Marinette shook her head. "No, he-"

"It was, actually," Adrien said. "But Marinette refuses to believe me."

"Adrien," she said. "I told you before that you don't have to tell me that to make me feel good about myself. I feel good enough about myself already. I'm freaking awesome." Liam chuckled.

"I'm not just saying that," Adrien insisted. "I really did have a crush on you."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Adrien, I was nuts about you. I paid close attention to everything you did. _Everything._ I think I would have known if you had a crush on me."

"And I think that maybe you didn't notice as much as you thought you did," Adrien said, leaning back against the back of the booth. "I was a pretty private person, Mari."

"Still. I would have known."

Adrien shrugged. "I didn't know that you had a crush on me, and when I asked Nino about it the other day, he said it was pretty obvious, so who knows? Maybe we were both just too blind and oblivious to see what was right in front of us the whole time."

***

They finished their dinner with about forty-five minutes left before the show and made their way back to the venue together, where Liam and Marinette parted ways with Adrien shortly after arriving.

Marinette smiled to herself. Nothing had gone wrong. She had had nothing to worry about.

"He still has feelings for you," Liam said the moment Adrien was out of earshot.

Crap.

"What?" Marinette said. "No, he doesn't. He's just a friend."

Liam gave her a small, fond smile. "Marinette, I love you, but sometimes you are so oblivious. He very obviously still has feelings for you."

"And where on Earth did you get that idea?"

"Have you really never noticed the way he looks at you?" Daisy had said the same thing about him. "And the way he talks about you?"

"He's just really fond of all his friends," Marinette said defensively. "He didn't have any friends until he was thirteen, you know. I think you would be extra fond of all your friends, too, if you were friendless for thirteen years."

"Okay, Marinette. If you really don't want to believe it, then don't. Just... if he tries anything-"

"Jeez, Liam," Marinette interrupted. "You're acting like you don't trust me, or something. You know I would never cheat on you, right?"

"Right. Yeah. Just, um, let me know if he tries to hit on you, okay?"

"He's not going to hit on me."

"Okay. Just if he did."

"Whatever, Liam." Marinette checked her watch. "It's thirty minutes until showtime. I have to go."

"Okay," Liam said, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. "Good luck."

"Thanks. See you after the show." Marinette began to walk away, then turned back. "Oh, I almost forgot: there's an afterparty later, and we were all thinking of going. Would you want to go with me?"

Liam shook his head. "No, thanks, I have work tomorrow morning. You have fun, though."

"Thanks. I will. Love you."

"Love you, too."

***

Finally, it was showtime. Marinette, Adrien, and the rest of the Supernova and Agreste employees who were in attendance all gathered together five minutes before the show to wish each other good luck.

And it began.

Marinette watched from backstage as each model walked the runway. Fashion label after fashion label showed off their clothes from the year, until it was finally time for the Agreste and Supernova models to walk.

She watched anxiously as the first model walked down the runway. No tripping or falling- they were off to a good start.

She smiled encouragingly at the model, a young redheaded woman named Nevaeh, as she returned backstage. "Great job, Nevaeh."

Nevaeh smiled. "Thank you, Ms. Dupain-Cheng."

From the opposite side of the stage, Adrien gave Marinette a thumbs-up and a huge grin. What a dork.

Their models all walked without a hitch. They received exceedingly high amounts of applause. From her vantage point, Marinette could see a couple of fashion critics sitting in the crowd, but despite her best efforts, she couldn't tell what they thought about the clothes.

After all the models had finished walking, everyone took ten minutes to chat while the judges made the final decision.

"They did great," Adrien said excitedly, running toward her.

"Yeah, they did," Marinette agreed with a grin. "We should send our models gift baskets or something when this is all over. I mean, I know we're already paying them money, but they've just been so great-"

"I totally agree," Adrien said. "I mean, did you see Libby out there? She's come such a long way from when we first got started."

"I know! She's so much more confident now, and she-"

"Hey," Daisy interrupted, lightly touching Marinette's shoulder. "Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt, but I really need to talk to you, Marinette."

Marinette nodded. "Okay. Sorry, Adrien."

"It's fine," he said with a reassuring smile.

Daisy led Marinette away from the crowd and into a hallway where two other people were milling around and chatting. Daisy glanced back into the other room as if to check for someone, then grinned excitedly at Marinette.

"He has got it so bad for you!"

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding me? Is that all you needed to talk about?"

"Yes. I'm freaking out!"

"I thought it was about something serious- and _real."_

"This is real!" Daisy insisted.

"No, it's not," Marinette responded, annoyed. "I already told you, Adrien is just a friend."

"I don't know why you're fighting me so hard on this, Mari. It seems like a dream come true to me."

"Huh," Marinette said, faking thoughtfulness, then held up her hand to show Daisy her engagement ring. "Maybe because I'm engaged?"

Daisy sighed dreamily, ignoring Marinette's words. "I can just imagine it. Living in a big mansion somewhere with _Adrien Agreste._ Hottest man alive, if you ask me."

"I _didn't_ ask you."

"And rich, too."

"It kind of seems to me like that might be a big factor in this daydream of yours."

"We'd have the time of our lives together," she said, still ignoring a bored Marinette. "We'd have three amazing kids, relax together all the time in our incredible house, go to elaborate balls together-"

Marinette scrunched up her nose. "Balls? Like masquerade balls? Do people still have those?"

"And I would wear the most _gorgeous_ gowns-"

"Who's inviting you to all these balls? I have never once met anyone who had any desire to host a _ball."_

"And I would be so beautiful that all the other women there would hate me-"

"Your fantasy includes being hated by every female in your social group?"

"And we'd dance the night away-"

"I hope you're not wearing heels in this fantasy of yours."

"And it would be just amazing." Daisy finally finished with a content sigh and a small, longing smile.

"Lovely," Marinette deadpanned. "Are you done now? Can I go?"

Daisy huffed. "Fine. Whatever. _Don't_ live like a princess for the rest of your life. See if I care."

"Okay. See you later. Daisy."

Shaking her head, Marinette returned to her work associates to await the judges' decision.


	14. The Umbrella Scene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The calm before the storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EEK. I love this chapter. Don't get too excited yet, though; there's still one chapter left.
> 
> Also, I just realized that I think I forgot to explain that Adrien chose to rename the fashion label from Gabriel to Agreste Fashion? I think I just started calling it Agreste Fashion without an explanation, but he did it in an attempt to kind of distance the company from his father a bit and separate them in people's eyes.

It was time.

A tense silence instantly fell over the crowd the moment the announcer stepped up to the microphone holding a small white envelope.

"This is it, you guys," Marinette whispered apprehensively to her coworkers. She instinctively reached out to grab the hands of the people sitting on either side of her, who just so happened to be Daisy and Adrien. Both of them squeezed her hands in return, and Daisy glanced at the hand that was encased in Adrien's and gave Marinette a knowing smirk.

Whatever. Marinette was too nervous to deal with her at the moment.

The announcer rattled off some speech Marinette had trouble paying attention to about how hard everyone worked and how well they all did. Then, he announced the runners-up, none of which were Agreste or Supernova Fashion. Finally, it was time to announce the champion.

"And the winner of this year's Tournoi de Papillon is..." they all held their breath. "Supernova and Agreste Fashion!"

Marinette instantly shrieked with excitement, but she could hardly even hear it over the din of the applause.

She leapt out of her seat, and the rest of her coworkers did the same.

Confetti cannons went off, showering them all in the little bits of colored paper.

Marinette giddily spun around to see Adrien grinning wildly at her. Without hesitation, she ran into his arms. He lifted her off the ground and spun her around victoriously.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Daisy grin smugly at her, but she couldn't even bring herself to care.

"We did it!" She exclaimed after they broke apart, nearly having to yell in order to be heard over the cheering and celebrating.

"I knew we could," Adrien beamed.

Suddenly, they were being presented with a tall golden trophy. Together, they climbed up onto the stage and hoisted it triumphantly into the air for everyone to see.

The rest of the night was a blur. She saw Liam a few minutes after their victory and said goodnight to him after he congratulated her, and then she rode with Daisy to the afterparty.

That night, she celebrated more than she'd ever celebrated before. She sang at the top of her lungs and danced until her feet went numb. She suddenly understood the part in Daisy's fantasy about "dancing the night away."

It was nearly one in the morning when she finally left the party. She hadn't had anything to drink, but Liam had already taken the car home, and Daisy lived on the opposite side of the city, so she found herself waiting for a taxi in the rain. She hadn't even noticed it was storming until she exited the building. Fortunately, she had an umbrella in the large bag she always carried with her.

As she stood underneath her black umbrella waiting for her taxi to arrive, someone approached and stood next to her.

"Hi," Adrien greeted her with a warm smile.

"Hi," she said back, her heart fluttering at the sight of him. She told herself it was just because of all the excitement of the night. She was still breathless from dancing. "Great party, huh?"

"Yeah. Really great."

After a moment of staring out at the rain, Marinette turned back to look at him and spoke again. "Hey... I know I've been kind of hard on you the past couple of months, but it's just because I'm passionate. I think you're amazing at what you do, but I know I don't always act that way, so... I'm sorry."

Adrien smiled softly down at her. "You have nothing to apologize for, Mari. You just wanted to make sure we won- and we did. Thanks to you."

Marinette smiled back, and she could feel a tiny blush creeping up on her face. "It was a team effort."

"It was mostly you."

Marinette saw a taxi pull up to the curb out of the corner of her eye.

"My ride's here," she said softly. She started toward the cab, then stopped. Adrien didn't have an umbrella.

She turned and offered her umbrella to him. His vibrant green eyes locked on her brilliant blue ones, he reached out and gingerly touched the umbrella handle as if he were afraid it would hurt him.

She removed her grip from the umbrella handle as he took it from her, but she couldn't bring herself to move from the spot, her gaze still locked on his. Why was she breathing so hard? Why was her heart pounding out of her chest? Why did she have butterflies in her stomach? Why couldn't she _move?_

Marinette barely had time to blink before his hand was on the small of her back, pulling her in toward him.

Suddenly, they were kissing. A fire ignited in her stomach, and the entire world melted away.

It was just the two of them.

One of her hands came up to cup his cheek, while the other moved to the back of his neck to tangle her fingers in his hair. She wanted this moment to last forever.

After what seemed like an eternity, they broke apart, their foreheads still pressed together.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," Adrien whispered to her, his large, warm hand still firmly on her back.

Marinette giggled giddily, closing her eyes. "Me, too. If only-" she gasped and pulled away from him, suddenly remembering the little detail that had led to her complete denial of the feelings that had been building up inside of her over the past few months as her eyes went wide with shock over her actions.

Liam.

"I... I have to go."

"Wait, Marinette," Adrien said. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"No," she interrupted. "I... I'm glad you did. You helped me realize something. Now, if you'll excuse me, there's... something I need to do."

She mumbled a goodbye and walked to the taxi, trying to fight the tears from spilling out of her eyes.

She had cheated on Liam.

With Adrien Agreste.

She got into the taxi and, between sniffles, told the driver where to go. She held it together for a minute but broke down soon after the taxi turned the corner onto a different street.

As much as she hated it, she knew what she had to do.


	15. Conclusive Ending? I Don't Know Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING (CONTAINS SPOILERS! DO NOT READ THIS NOTE IF YOU DON'T GET TRIGGERED!):
> 
> \--
> 
> This chapter contains graphic domestic violence. If you can't or don't want to read it, here's a short summary of the chapter:
> 
> Marinette goes back to the apartment and begins packing her bags to leave. She tells Liam about the kiss and breaks up with him, telling him that he deserves better than someone who would cheat on him. He gets angry and violent with her, and she leaves him. She moves in with Daisy temporarily. She sees Adrien a few weeks later, but they don't get together. Marinette needs to take some time to figure out her life and what she wants. Adrien moves back to Paris.

When she arrived at the apartment building, she felt completely numb.

She tipped the driver extra for putting up with her pathetic sobbing and slowly headed inside, feeling too drained of energy to care about the fact that the rain was currently soaking through her clothes.

When she arrived at the apartment, Liam was already asleep. She didn't waste time. Doing her best to remain quiet so as not to wake him, she immediately fetched a suitcase from the closet and started packing her things.

"Marinette?" a groggy voice said from behind her after a minute or so. "What are you doing?"

Marinette sniffed, her bottom lip quivering. She didn't turn around to face him as she spoke. "I'm packing."

She heard a ruffle of blankets as Liam climbed out of bed. "What? Why? Where are you going?"

She broke down again as a sob escaped her throat. "I'm sorry, Liam, I'm so sorry."

Liam flipped the light on and turned her around to face him, wiping the tears from her face for her. She wouldn't meet his eyes. "Sorry for what? What's going on?"

She sniffed once more and finally met his eyes. "I... Adrien and I kissed."

He stared unblinkingly at her, slowly removing his hands from her body. "You... what?"

"We kissed," she repeated. "And I regret it, obviously I do, but I can't change the fact that it happened, so... here." She slid the engagement ring off of her finger and dropped it into his hand.

He looked like he had been wounded. "You're... _leaving me_ for Adrien?"

"No," she said. "I'm leaving you for _you._ When Adrien and I kissed, I realized that you were right. I _do_ have feelings for him. And you deserve better than that. You deserve someone who will be truly devoted to you. Someone who will love you, and only you, without exception. And as much I wish that that could be me, it isn't. I'm sorry that I couldn't be that person for you, Liam. You have no idea how much I wanted to be that person."

Liam stared at her as she finished her speech, his sorrow turning to anger. "Are you _kidding me?_ I _knew_ you had a crush on him, I _knew_ it, but you kept denying it!"

Marinette sniffed. "Liam, I'm sorry, and I know you're mad-"

"The whole time, you were just _lying_ to me!"

"No, Liam, I-"

 _"Shut up,"_ Liam yelled, his hand reaching out to knock over a glass lamp, which shattered on the floor between them. "Just shut up, Marinette. You _swore_ to me that you didn't have feelings for him. I can't believe I actually _trusted_ you!"

"I'm sorry," she sobbed once again, her heart racing. "I didn't mean for it to happen. I didn't-"

She was interrupted by his hand slapping her across the face.

She froze in shock, her own hand coming up to touch her stinging cheek. Liam grabbed her wrist, his grip tight.

"You don't get to do this," Liam insisted loudly. Marinette tried to yank her wrist out of his hand, but his grip only tightened. "You don't get to just _lie_ to me for _months_ and then _destroy everything._ Not after what I've done for you."

"Well, _you_ don't get to _hit me!"_ Marinette snapped, nearly shouting at this point.

He shoved her backwards into a wall.

"Do you realize how much I did for you?" Liam asked loudly, his face twisted into an angry scowl. "I let you be Ladybug again. I trusted you to work with Adrien without cheating on me. Did I make you stay away from him? No, I didn't. Did I ask you to quit your job rather than work for him? No, I didn't. Because I _trusted_ you. And you betrayed me."

"You were trying to control me," Marinette raised her voice even more. "You can't dictate what I do with my life, no matter whether we're engaged or not."

"I was just trying to _protect_ you because I _care_ about you!"

"It doesn't seem like you _care_ about me right now!" Marinette was screaming at this point as she finally took control and shoved him away from her, moving away from the wall. "They warned me about you, you know. They told me that your behavior seemed abusive, but I told them it wasn't true and that you would _never_ hurt me, but I guess I was _wrong."_

 _"I_ hurt _you?"_ Liam repeated incredulously. "You _cheated_ on me! I have a right to be angry!"

"You _never_ have a right to lay a hand on me like that."

His fist collided with her face, and she stumbled backwards.

 _"Enough,"_ she screamed. "I have had _enough._ I can't believe I ever thought that you really loved me." With all her strength, she pushed him out of her way, grabed her bags- which she never finished packing- and stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her as tears streamed down her face.

She was intercepted by a neighbor in the hallway, and she stared at her feet, refusing to meet the woman's eyes.

"Are you okay?" the neighbor asked anxiously. "I heard you guys screaming in there- did he _hit_ you?"

Marinette sniffed. "I'm fine."

"The police are already on their way, honey. Do you want-"

"I _said_ I'm fine," Marinette snapped, tilting her head up to look at her.

She gasped. "He _did_ hit you!"

Marinette's fingertips came up to feel the swollen spot just under her eye.

"Thank you for your concern," she said after a moment of silence. "But I'm fine."

Despite the woman's protests, she walked past her, heading down the hall toward the elevator.

On her way out the door, she passed three police officers running toward the elevator. Hot tears spilled down her cheeks, but she didn't stop to talk to them.

***

And she was back to sleeping in her office for the night.

Unlike the last time they broke up, Marinette knew this one was permanent.

She would _never_ go back to him. Not after he had shown his true colors.

The day after it happened, she told Daisy about what had happened with Adrien, and although Marinette knew she was _thinking_ "I told you so," she would never actually say it. Not at a time like this.

She told her that Liam had been angry. She didn't tell her what he had done, but she knew that she could tell from looking at her bruised face and wrist. She had tried to cover up the marks with concealer, but she hadn't been very successful.

Daisy offered her the couch in her apartment until she found her own place. She told her she could always talk to her if she needed it. Marinette accepted the offer, thankful to have a shoulder to cry on.

She didn't see Adrien again until about three weeks after the breakup. He had come to Supernova to pick up something that he left by accident when they ran into each other in the hall. By that point, the bruises had healed some, and she was mostly able to hide them with makeup.

"Marinette," he greeted her awkwardly. The tension between them was high. "Look, I- I'm sorry about what happened. I know that you're engaged, and I-"

"I _was_ engaged," Marinette corrected him.

He paused. "What?"

"I _was_ engaged. Now I'm not."

His mouth was hanging slightly ajar. "You..."

"I broke up with Liam," she explained.

She thought she could detect the tiniest glimmer of hope in his green eyes. She hated that she had to crush it.

"After... what happened, I realized that Liam and I aren't right for each other. After what you and Alya said about him, I've spent so much time trying to figure out if he really was right for me, and you helped me realize that he isn't." She took a deep breath. "So, I'm taking a step back from dating for a while. I need to focus on getting my life back on track. Finding a place to live that's not Daisy's couch. Figuring out what I want."

"Marinette..." Adrien breathed. "I am so sorry for doing this to you."

"You shouldn't be," she assured him. "I think I eventually would have figured out that we weren't as perfect together as I originally thought. You just helped me realize that sooner. Honestly, I'm just glad this happened _before_ the wedding."

"Still. I'm sorry."

She nodded. "I know you are. But you don't need to be."

***

Adrien moved back to Paris two weeks later.

Marinette had to call all of her family and friends to inform them that the wedding had been cancelled.

Marinette didn't know where she would go from there. She didn't know where she would be in five years, or who she would be with, or if she would even be with anyone.

But she did know that, someday, she would find someone that was right for her. And she would be right for that someone.

They would find each other.

Someday. ****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flashing Back to New York City- coming soon!
> 
> Gah! I can't believe it's all up! Sorry about that ending, but I did try to warn you.
> 
> Also, if you're upset about Mari and Adrien not getting together in the end, I think you'll like the sequel better. ;)
> 
> However, the plot of Flashing Back doesn't entirely revolve around romance. Once you get a few chapters in, a new conflict comes up, and romance kind of takes a backseat and becomes more of a subplot.
> 
> So far, I have a little over 15k words of the sequel written. When I finish it, I'll add a chapter to this story to announce it, so if you're already subscribed to me or to this story, you'll be notified.
> 
> I want to thank all of you for reading this. I usually write short stuff, so I honestly didn't expect this to get longer than 5k words or so. I have worked so hard on this over the past few months, and I'm so grateful to everyone who has been reading it. Thank you so much. I love you all <3
> 
> Feel free to comment with feedback and/or make a request! Thanks!
> 
> -Emma
> 
> Find me on Tumblr: [mykinkisdracomalfoy ](http://www.mykinkisdracomalfoy.tumblr.com)

**Author's Note:**

> "It's impossible to love someone and control them at the same time." -Terry Crews
> 
>  
> 
> Feel free to comment with feedback and/or request a oneshot! Thanks!
> 
> -Emma
> 
> Find me on Tumblr: [mykinkisdracomalfoy ](http://www.mykinkisdracomalfoy.tumblr.com)


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